The Chairman Senate Committee on Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, says President Muhammadu Buhari can re-present Ibrahim Magu for confirmation as the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to the Senate.
He said the president, having earlier cleared Magu based on a report by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami should go ahead to stand by his conviction that the Acting Chairman of EFCC committed no infraction contrary to the allegations leveled against him by the DSS.
Ndume stated this in an interview on a television station yesterday. He said his support for Magu to continue to head the EFCC was not because he had any personal interest in him, but because of the need to sustain the momentum on the anti-corruption battle he has been fighting.
The former Senate majority leader said President Buhari should never allow any form of compromise on his commitment to the fight against corruption in Nigeria, a reason he should stick to Magu as the Chairman of the EFCC.
He also faulted the voice vote employed by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki which led to Magu’s rejection, contending that the Senate president in line with tradition should have differed voting on Magu to another legislative day after he had been screened.
Ndume lamented that the rejection of Magu by the Senate was premeditated, wondering why it had to write to the DSS to demand for an advisory on Magu just a day to his scheduled screening.
“As a Senate, our job is limited only to confirmation of nominees. We are not supposed to investigate anybody. We are not supposed to be a court. The tradition is that if there is a nominee before us, Senators from that state will take a position and that is the first hurdle.
Ndume lamented that the All Progressives Congress (APC) failed to intervene on the issue of Magu by calling for a meeting of the party’s Senate caucus, a reason he said there was a disconnect among its members in the Senate on the issues at stake.
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