The chairman of the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu has been accused of shielding
President Muhammadu Buhari’s associates from probe.
The allegation was made by the Ekiti Justice Group (EJG) who accused
Magu of ignoring petitions against chieftains of the All Progressives
Congress (APC).
According to The Cable, the group described as “shameless falsehood”,
the assurances of the EFCC boss that the commission did not have any
petition against APC leaders, else it would have gone after them.
The group said: ”It is on record that petitions were submitted to
the EFCC office in Abuja against former governor of Ekiti State, Dr
Kayode Fayemi, by the State Government and concerned groups.”
Speaking on the allegation which have been coming up for a while, Magu recently said: “Such
accusations have come up a lot, but, we work with petitions before us,
in fact, I am eager and waiting for something from the other side, but
nothing has come so far.”
In reaction to Magu’s words, EJG through a statement by its national
secretary, Ebenezer Olaleye, said it was on record that the Save Ekiti
Coalition (SEC) wrote a petition dated September 26, 2014 to the EFCC
and Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), and the petition
was submitted in Abuja on September 29, 2014.
Narrating its expereince further, the group said the state government
even wrote a letter to EFCC in September 2015, reminding the commission
of its petition.
The EJG said: ”It is a clear confirmation of EFCC partisanship
for Magu to claim ignorance of the SEC petition duly received by the
commission with attached documents on September 29, 2014.
”The EFCC chairman should rather come clean and tell Nigerians
that under the President Mohammadu Buhari-led APC government, only those
opposed to the federal government must be presented as corrupt while
APC chieftains who are supporting the president can never be corrupt
even if there is evidence that they stole their states blind.”
Meanwhile, the
national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said it
was wrong to assume that the party was against President Muhammadu
Buahri’s anti-corruption war.
Alhaji Ibrahim Jalo, the deputy national publicity secretary of the
PDP said the party was not against the prosecution of those who looted
funds meant for the purchase of arms in the war against Boko Haram
insurgency.
According to him rather than tarnish the party’s name, those guilty
of looting the nation’s funds should be properly punished to serve as a
deterrent to others.
Among those currently facing different charges before different
courts in Abuja are the acting chairman of the BoT of the party, Alhaji Haliru Bello;
a former governor of Sokoto state, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa; a former
minister of state for finance, Amb. Bashir Yuguda; and the founder of
Daar Communications Plc, Dr. Raymond Dokpesi.
Also, Chief Olisa Metuh, the national publicity secretary of the
party is currently being detained by the EFCC over alleged corruption.
On Tuesday, January 5, officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission stormed his Abuja home and whisked him away.