Legal practitioner, Isaac Anumudu, says the Senate’s rejection of Ibrahim Magu as the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), was not based on the DSS report alone, but also bordered on his incompetence for the job.
“Some of us watched the screening and we saw that Magu was rejected not on the report alone but based on his inability to show competence for the job.
“He was asked critical questions based on his job which he could not answer,” he stressed.
Mr Anumudu, also stated that the issue has been unduly hyped by some persons.
He made this known while speaking on Channels Television’s breakfast show, Sunrise Daily.
“There is no complication whatsoever – It is just that certain gladiators, for certain reasons not yet known to Nigerians, are unduly hyping this issue and making a very simple, constitutional issue to look as if it is complicated”.
He, therefore expressed worry over the fact that there could be something else that meets the eye on the issue which according to him, is accentuating it beyond the way it is meant to be.
Quoting Section 2 (3) of the EFCC Act, Mr Anumudu, explained that the nomination and subsequent confirmation of the EFCC Chairman is not a duty of the President alone as it is subject to the confirmation of the Senate.
“We are in a democracy and the intendment of section 2(3) is to take away arbitrary powers from the executive because the issue of EFCC chairmanship is a very tough position and seeing the damage corruption has done to our society, the intention was to put someone there who would be above board, who would be transparent.”
Mr Magu has been in acting capacity as EFCC chairman since November, 2015.
President Muhammadu Buhari had sent a letter, re-nominating him as the substantive Chairman of the EFCC.
The Senate’s rejection, however, marks the second time in three months that he has been rejected by the lawmakers; a situation which another legal practitioner, Robert Clarke, has described as a slap in the face of the Presidency.
