Reacting to rumours suggesting that President Buhari was pushing for the promotion of former acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu who has been under probe over allegations of misuse of his office, Shehu in an interview on Channels Television said promotion in the nation’s police structure is determined by the Police Service Commission.

He said “President Buhari, or any Nigerian President for that matter, is not responsible for promotions in the Police. That is the business of the Police Service Commission, PSC.  In the case of the gentleman in question, who is currently under investigation, common sense dictates that his eligibility will be determined by that outcome. The PSC could have given you the correct position on this if there was an effort to reach them.”

The Commission’s Head of Press and Public Relations, Ikechukwu Ani, made this known in a statement on Thursday titled, ‘PSC Promotes 24 CPs, 35 DCPs, 52 ACPs, 50 CSPs, Drops Ibrahim Magu’.

According to Ani, the decisions were the highpoints of the Commission’s 12th Plenary Meeting held on Tuesday and Wednesday, which was presided over by the Commission’s Chairman, Musiliu Smith, a retired Inspector General of Police.

The statement partly read. “The Commission declined the promotion of CP Magu pending clearance from the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice and the Office of the Inspector General of Police,”

Magu, who served as acting chairman of the EFCC from 2015 to 2020, was rejected twice by the Senate. He was later suspended along with several others for allegedly mismanaging funds of the commission, an allegation which he vehemently denied. The former EFCC boss was probed for over three months by a judicial panel of inquiry led by a former President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami. The panel made several recommendations but the report has not been made public to date.

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), later in February 2021 named 40-year-old Abdulrasheed Bawa as the new EFCC chairman to replace Magu.

The counter-statement came after the suspended EFCC chairman opened his defence to the allegations of ‘Alleged Abuse of Office and Mismanagement of Federal Government Recovered Assets and Finances’ levelled against him on Monday, September 21.

Responding to allegations of allowing Hima Aboubakar, a Nigerien National to escape from justice, Magu challenged anyone who has ever offered him a bribe which he accepted to “come out publicly to confront him before the Justice Ayo Salami panel”.

Magu is currently being investigated for allegedly diverting recovered funds, buying an N570m property, and other offences, which he has since denied. 

Malami said this during an interview on NTA. According to Malami, Magu’s probe proves that no one is above the law in the Buhari-led government. 

When asked whether the probe was to settle personal scores, the minister of justice said it was the presidency that set up a panel to investigate the EFCC and him.  

He said “I wouldn’t like to be pre-emptive of the panel put in place by the President relating to an agency but within the context of the first leg of the question as to whether setting up a panel to look into the activities of an anti-corruption agency is a blow or a plus, I think to my mind, it is indeed a plus. It goes on to establish the tradition which this government is known for; a tradition of no fear or favour as far as investigating corruption cases or allegations are concerned. So, to my mind, it is indeed a plus that reinforces and re-establishes a tradition by which the government of President Muhammadu Buhari is known, re-established to the effect that no allegation of corruption can be swept under the carpet. So, it is indeed a plus and not a blow.”

Magu made this known in a letter he sent to the panel titled, ‘Re: Alleged Case of Conspiracy, Enrichment, Abuse of Public Office and Other Infractions,’

His letter in part read “On allocation of vehicles to some government agencies through special auction with presidential approval. The beneficiary agencies are the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management of which the valued price is to be debited from their allocation; State House, National Commission for Refugees and Displaced Persons; Federal Inland Revenue Service and National Directorate of Employment. The commission presently has presidential approval to dispose over 450 forfeited vehicles located in Lagos and Abuja. The vehicles have been valued by the National Automotive Council Valuers and the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing. But no sale/disposal has been conducted yet”

Commenting on the probe in an interview on Channels Television, Garba Shehu advised Nigerians not to be confused by outbursts of anyone.

He said “I guess this is a question for the Justice Ayo Salami panel and I must say that panel is composed of some of this country’s most honoured people with integrity who will do the right thing. I am not going to pre-empt the panel investigation but I just advice Nigerians to hold their hearts in their hands. By the time they are done with this job and they come out with the reports prepare yourselves for surprises. I don’t know what will come out but if the sense we are getting from what is being done over there is anything to go by, I think that Nigerians should not be confused by any outbursts by anybody.”

He was arrested and detained on Monday, July 6, 2020, following a summons by the presidential panel probing his activities in the office.

Magu was interrogated over allegations of corruption and brought before the Justice Ayo Salami-led Presidential panel.

Last week Friday, July 15, Magu wrote a letter through his counsel, Oluwatosin Ojaomo, to the IGP asking for bail on self-recognizance.

Responding to his letter, the police chief said Magu is not being detained by the police but by the Presidential Panel investigating the activities of the EFCC. The letter was written by his Principal Staff Officer, DCP Idowu Owohunwa, dated 14th July 2020 reads

“Your letter OOC/TOL/89A/07/2020 of July 2020 on the above underlines subject, refers. The Inspector-General of Police directs that your attention be drawn to the fact that the Nigeria Police Force is not investigating CP Ibrahim Magu (your client), and he is accordingly, not being detained by the Police but by the Presidential Panel that is investigating the activities of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The Inspector-General of Police, therefore, advises that you consider redirecting your request to the Chairman of the Presidential Panel for appropriate attention. I am to convey the assurances of the warmest regards of the Inspector General of Police, please.”

The suspension of the directors comes days after the Federal government also suspended the acting chairman of the commission, Ibrahim Magu, who is currently being investigated for allegations of fraud.

The Nation reports that the notice of suspension for the directors was communicated to the Acting Chairman of the Commission, Mr Mohammed Umar, by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation on Tuesday night July 14.

Magu who was accused of being unable to account for 332 out of the 836 recovered real estate property in March 2018, was also accused of turning the EFCC into a “glorified police station” for alleged selfish motives.

The report partly read “The blatant display of arrogance and acquisition of illicit wealth has turned the EFCC into a glorified police station. Despite massive recruitment of officers and men in recent years by the (suspended) acting chairman at the EFCC, he is still seconding police officers to the EFCC because he is comfortable with his fellow officers to carry out his illicit activities. He does not have any exit strategy for the police even though the EFCC officers are more experienced in the investigation of economic and financial crimes. Most of the recovered assets are allegedly sold without anyone knowing and without proper records and without recourse to the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing that has the mandate to undertake an evaluation of such property. Some of the assets have been taken over by EFCC officials while some are sold at giveaway prices to friends and cronies of the Acting Chairman. It is also on record that the (suspended) acting chairman is maintaining different accounts, including using proxies who return the benefit of the sold assets to him. These funds are then used to procure property and lands in the names of some of his proxies. A disturbing example is the two vessels that allegedly sunk at NNS Beecroft Naval BASE, Lagos and NNS Pathfinder Naval Base in Port Harcourt without trace under the watch of the acting Chairman of EFCC.  The vessels named MT GOOD SUCCESS, MV PSV DERBY and MV THAMES were allowed to sink in spite of several warnings from the Navy on the need to evacuate the petroleum products in the vessels. The total value of the assets lost due to the negligence runs into millions of US dollars. The (suspended) acting Chairman is yet to provide a report on what happened to these vessels. For instance, EFCC stated 836 as the number of Recovered Real Estate in the Original Returns it made to the President on 07/04/2017. However, in its 1st Returns to PCARA on 13/12/2017, EFCC short-changed the system and gave the figure of 339 thereby failing to account for 497 property. It is interesting to note that when the Acting Chairman was further queried on this lapse, he made further contradictory 2nd return of 504 on 09/03/2018 thereby bridging the gap to 332 property. These Regulations was issued in line with international best practices and to ensure that all the anti-corruption agencies report all their recovered assets in a database provided by the Federal Government.  It is important to note that the (suspended) Acting Chairman in apparent disregard of the regulation is disposing of these properties without regard to extant laws, and Regulations and without reference to the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and in effect, there is no way to have an audit of the property. This is also a clear sign that there is a deliberate attempt to hide the exact figures of recoveries, which is an indication of fraudulent intent. These actions of the (suspended) Ag. Chairman in refusing the Regulation is a clear case of refusal to follow lawful instructions and directives contrary to the provisions of the Act that established the EFCC.”