EFCC: A glance at its banana peels

By Kenneth Dareng

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as an anti-corruption agency came into limelight with its establishment at the inception of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration in 1999. The wisdom behind its formation perhaps was borne out of the Guest to take Nigeria from the state of primitive accumulation of wealth where massive corruption is identified as a major cankerworm that had over the  years eaten deep into every fabric of the Nigerian society. And it has remained a cloak in the wheel of its progress and development inspite of its enormous human and economic capital.

The Obasanjo administration also saw corruption in the country like an incurable disease that had defined all manner of prescriptions and brought shame and turned its citizens as laughing stock within and outside its shores. It was a disease that needed urgent  surgical operations in order to cure it.

It was apt at that time to create EFCC as an institution that would confront the dreaded monster of corruption and provide the necessary dose with effective efficacy that can kill it once and for all. It was also at that same time that a mid-level police officer Mallam Nuhu Ribadu was appointed its pioneer chairman vested with enormous powers to bring to book those individuals or organizations that were either actors or beneficiaries in corrupt practices.

EFCC within a short period was transformed into a crack machine and its chairman Ribadu found himself empowered to pursue some of the biggest names in the country for corrupt practices and financial crimes. In no record time Ribadu became one of the most talked about names in the country bringing down powerful political figures which Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, a public affairs commentator in his write-up in the Daily Trust of July 12, 2020 stated that; “Ribadu was able to strike fear into Obasajo’s opponents.

Ribadu was able to shape even the political landscape of the country under his watch. So many political dreams were shelved, others permanently grounded. However, Ribadu soon ended up in the jaws of the anglerfish and was forced out of office.

“To end his tenure as chairman of the EFCC, Ribadu was ordered to undertake a yearlong training at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) Kuru. And a year later, he was unceremoniously dismissed from the force. Subsequently, he fled into exile for two years”.

According to Jacob Umaru, a Jos based legal practitioner who spoke with the SUNDAY STANDARD. The reign of Ribadu as chairman of EFCC for the first time in many decades at least brought confidence in the minds of most Nigerians and indeed the international community that yes, Nigeria was on the path of moral rely and on the right course”.

But Samuel Ango in his opinion said, “There were few successes here and there during the Ribadu era but by and large, it was quite selective because Ribadu only went after opponents of the then ruling party, which was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

However, in the year 2011, Nuhu Ribadu came back from exile and decided to join the Presidential race having been seen to have performed well  as chairman of EFCC. Some countries had even acknowledged the gains recorded in Nigeria and had requested for the services of Ribadu who had also bagged many accolades from Nigeria and abroad. But his attempt to put such gains in the political arena could not make much impact. He was seen rather as a political light weight. Even his party, the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) could not match the power of incumbency for PDP’s Goodluck Jonathan.

After the exit of Ribadu in controversial circumstances, he was replaced by Mrs. Farida Waziri, a retired Police officer who shortly after taking over the mantle at the EFCC as the new chairman turned the heat on Nuhu Ribadu by accusing him of not accounting for the loot recovered from the sacked Inspector General of Police Tarfa Balogun.

Mrs. Waziri according to Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, “soon alleged that the loot recovered from Mr. Balogun had had gone missing, and claimed that the files detailing the recovery disappeared. True or not, it was a classic line from the Police textbook of how to kill a case”.

Abubakar also noted that her greatest accomplishment in office might have been the successful prosecution of Obasanjo’s political ally, Chief Bode George, for fraud.

Farida Waziri too could not survive the numerous allegations surrounding her and soon she had acquired many enemies  who were also bent on exposing her. And with the demise of President Yar’adua and President Goodluck Jonathan sooner than later sacked her. Although she alleged that her sack was as a result of her refusal to contribute funds to Jonathan’s 2011 Presidential campaign. SUNDAY STANDARD  also gathered that the former president denied this allegation saying, Mrs. Waziri was kicked out for the sake of national interest and other reasons that could not be disclosed because they were ‘state secrets”.

Whatever was the case, she too had her date with the banana peel which swept her away like a whirlwind and became the second chairman of the EFCC to also bow out of office unceremoniously.

The sack of Waziri, however marked another turning point in the history of the EFCC which started showing signs of disaster for the occupants of the chairman’s seat of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission. In the case of Waziri, Abbas, Yaro noted; “she acted as if she was just there to protect the interest of certain individuals and not in conformity with fighting corruption. She couldn’t have any regard for her predecessors and saw them as enemies that must be done away with”.

Then came the appointment of Ibrahim Lamorde as the replacement of Mrs. Waziri, who himself was largely seen as an EFCC insider and was referred to as the brain box of the Nuhu Ribadu crack team. After Ribadu’s ouster, Lamorde was asked by the Presidency to act as acting chairman. After being confirmed as substantive chairman of the EFCC by the Nigerian Senate in 2012, he became President Jonathan’s arrow head as anti-graft czar.

He too like his predecessors became exposed to those who felt uncomfortable with his stance on some issues and as Abubakar Ibrahim said, “he too fell in line with the president and the anti-corruption fight under him wilted in his four year reign. Amidst allegations of financial impropricty, failure to account for recovered loot amounting to trillions of naira, including the Tafa Balogun booty, no one expected him to survive Buhari’s axe. Though he denied the allegations, Lamorde too was duely booted out and the Senate reportedly asked for a warrant for his arrest following his failure to turn up for probe. But somehow, he managed to escape prosecution on these allegations” Ibrahim further noted.

The end of Lamorde’s four year reign at the helm of the EFCC ushered in a new era for Ibrahim Magu, a 58 year police officer who was appointed the Acting EFCC Chairman in 2015 at the advent of the Muhammadu Buhari’s administration which many Nigerians belief was voted into power based on his campaign promise to turn around the challenges, improve on the economy and to fight corruption as guiding principles of his administration.

The choice of Ibrahim Magu to serve as the face of the anti-graft war was greeted with commendation. For the president to have brought someone known also as a no nonsense police officer to prosecute those behind the looting of Nigeria’s common wealth by some corrupt individuals across all shades of opinion and political divide, it was applauded.

Magu came up with the fire brand approach with the arrest and prosecution of some prominent Nigerians including former governors, retired military Generals, former minister and other high profile politicians and business men and women. Then most Nigerians including the international community began to give a nod that perhaps for the first time a government meant business in fighting corruption which many saw as clear departure from the rhethorics of the previous governments which only went after perceived political opponents without seeking any prosecution in court. But with Magu as the new action man, several billions of dollar and property were seized from those found guilty and looted funds and property were transferred to the federal government after a ruling on the forfeitures.

The EFCC under Magu managed in five years to bring to book some high profile individuals and to bust many high profile cases of public service fraud. Top on the list were former petroleum minister Diezani Allison Madueke, arms procurement money scandal centred on former National Security Adviser (NSA) Mohammed Sambo Dasuki as well as money laundering by top Jonathan administration officials.

Magu also gained public attention when he led high profile investigations against former governors, including James Ibori of Delta State, Joshua Dariye, former Governor of Plateau State, and Bukola Saraki, former Governor of Kwara State and immediate past Senate President in the collapse of Society General Bank of Nigeria.

Despite his credentials as a trained financial crimes investigator with a background in forensic  accounting, yet the Nigerian Senate refused to confirm him as chairman of EFCC due to what was termed, “Security reports” by the Directorate of Of State Services (DSS).

However, by the 4th of July 2020, the storm started gathering over Ibrahim Magu, Czar of the anti-graft agency whom many see as the poster boy of the war on corruption of the Buhari administration. At the same time news started filtering in on the social media that the Acting Chairman of the EFCC, Magu had being arrested by the DSS and that he was been investigated for fraud by a probe panel headed by a retired president of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami.

And as each day went by, things turned out messier for  Magu and to the shock of many social commentators there were speculations that Magu was been detained and that he had being suspended as chairman pending pending the outcome of the report by the Salami panel. Then days later, there was a response which emanated from the Presidency through a Presidential Media Aide, Garba Shehu with an official statement confirming the suspension of Magu as chairman of EFCC.

Shehu said there were grounds for a detailed investigation to be conducted following weighty allegations against the acting chairman and several other members of the commission. He said the investigative panel was therefore constituted in compliance with extant laws governing the convening of such a body.

He said; “As is the proper procedure, when an allegation is made against the Chief  Executive of an institution, and in this case, an institution that ought to be seen as beyond reproach, the chief executive has to step down from his post and allow for transparent and unhindered investigation.

“The EFCC does not revolve around the personality of an individual. Therefore, the suspension of Mr. Ibrahim Magu allows the institution to continue carrying its mandate without the cloud of investigation hanging over its head. The EFCC has many good, hardworking men and women who are committed to its ideal and ensuring that the wealth of our country isn’t plundered and wherein there is an act of misappropriation such person (s) are brought to justice”, Shehu stated.

More than the personal fate of Ibrahim Magu, events that followed within days involving Magu’s arrest, detention, suspension from office, investigation by the judiciay, the media trial and so on revealed that all was not well with President Muhammadu Buhari’s fight against corruption.

According to a political analyst, Godwin Tang who shared his views on the development with SUNDAY STANDARD he said; “With what is happening, it is crystal clear that this administration didn’t have a comprehensive strategy for fighting  corruption. It was the selling point of President Muhammadu Buhari during his presidential campaigns. One smells a rate especially when the Senate twice rejected the nomination of Magu and the President insisted on the man and kept him in acting capacity for 5 years. And now the same person that the government said was the pointsman for fighting corruption is being said to be stained by corruption. What does that tell you?”

But another respondent who barred his mind to SUNDAY STANDARD under anonymity said; “This is corruption fighting back otherwise why couldn’t Magu’s name be re-submitted to  the National Assembly for confirmation in a situation where the two chambers of the National Assembly are dominated by members of the ruling party that have sympathy for President Buhari’s key agenda particularly on the war against corruption. The Presidents’ silence on Magu’s confirmation attests to the fact that some people within the Presidency do not want Magu on the seat. Look at the role of the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Abubakar Malami on the subject matter and I think there is more to what we are seeing or hearing and perhaps Magu should tell Nigerians what he knows on all these allegations.

SUNDAY STANDARD sources gathered that although the Salami panel is yet to submit its report, the move to set up the presidential probe panel was just a smokescreen to remove Magu and replace him with a more flexible officer rather than the uncompromising Magu. Although there are serious allegations leveled against Magu himself made by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami over selling of seized assets to cronies and friends, favoritism towards selected EFCC investigations, leakage of reports to selected media houses, discrepancies in reconciliation of records of recovered funds between the EFCC and Federal Ministry of Finance and lack of auditing reports of the organization for a period of five years.

The banana peel for Mr. Ibrahim Magu according to some insiders at the Commission was that Magu ran the EFCC with “Iron fist”.  Some people even described his style of leadership as; “running the commission like a glorified police station where people are detained without respect for the rule of law. In a Channels Television interview, Monday Ubani, former 2nd Vice President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) said he himself was detained for months in the EFCC cell without being charged to court by Magu and stated that: “it is shocking that people are being brought into the EFCC cells day in day out. Some are kept for months just in the name of investigation and you find more than 50 people kept at a time in the EFCC custody without charge. So what has happened to Magu himself perhaps is an indication that it is about time the entire EFCC should be re-organised by bringing in competent hands to run it and it must not be within the police, it could be from other security agencies or even outside the security apparatus. Look at the case of Kenya, the head of that country’s anti-graft agency is a professor and the man is doing well”.

Even the opposition, the peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in a statement on Saturday 11 July, 2020 by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, was quoted by Daily Trust of Sunday July 12th, 2020 as stating that; “the PDP states that Magu should be made to provide answers to the allegations in the public space that he was more interested in securing politically induced convictions rather than justice for which he alledgedly turned the EFCC into a terror house where innocent Nigerians are harassed with trumped-up charges and convicted on media trial even before being allowed to defend themselves in court.”

Meanwhile, even with the release of Ibrahim Magu on Tuesday 15th July 2020, according to SUNDAY STANDARD sources, there are indications that the reign of Magu may be considered over at the EFCC considering the fact that a new helmsman in the person of Mohammed Umar has already been named by President Muhammedu  Buhari to act as the EFCC boss.

However, there are calls on the president especially by some leading civil society organizations (CSOs) across the country urging him to quickly restore confidence in the nation’s anti-graft efforts.

The Executive Director, Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civil Education (CHRICED), Dr. Ibrahim Zikirullahi, was also quoted by the Daily Trust publication that what has played out in the past few days on the Magu saga,  “it is clear that the anti-corruption fight is at crossroads”.

Some observers like Femi Falana SAN, have also wondered why there is still no Board constituted for the EFCC as stipulated by the EFCC Act. Noting that; “under Ssch Act, a 25 member Board is supposed to be in place to serve as checks and balances over the Commission and yet there is nothing like that otherwise the issue of excesses on the part of the chief executive would not have arisen in the first place?”.

Mallam Nureeden Sani a Jos-based legal practitioner in a chat with SUNDAY STANDARD said, in order to avoid the constant sacking of the chief executives of the EFCC, the Federal Government must as a matter of expediency create another. Agency saddled with the sole responsibility of handling of recovered assets either in form of cash or other properties. Or perhaps the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) should be allowed to take charge of such task because the EFCC is saddled with too much powers which can be quite tempting no matter the good intention of the Commission and those who operate there”.

The reality is that the EFCC is one of such institutions that require overhaul and strengthening in order to restore faith in the commitment to fight the war on corruption. The fact also remains that being an EFCC boss comes with enormous powers and responsibilities. It comes with mammoth temptations and incredibly powerful enemies who will not sleep until they fight back at those who are hunting them. And the only sure way of succeeding is to lay the banana peel for someone to step on while they watch with satisfaction how the mighty have fallen.