There were indications on Friday that the Presidency has received
official communication from the Senate on the rejection of the Acting
Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu,
by the Red Chamber.
This was also as it was gathered that
President Muhammadu Buhari may renominate Magu for the position based on
the advice of his advisers, especially the Presidential Advisory
Committee on Corruption, which is headed by Prof. Itse Sagay.
If renominated, this will be the third time Buhari will be sending Manu’s name to the Senate for confirmation.
The
Senate on Wednesday rejected Magu as the substantive chairman of the
anti-graft agency due to a damning report of the Department State
Services.
But the Presidency, through the Special Adviser on
Media and Publicity to the President, Femi Adesina, said on Thursday
that the Presidency will only respond to the non-clearance of Magu after
it receives official communication in writing from the Senate.
It was gathered that the letter from the Senate on the issue was received on Friday.
Sources
said that Buhari had been advised to renominate Magu in order not to be
seen by the international community and locally as having backed down
on the fight against corruption.
This is more so now with the tacit backing Magu has received from Transparency International and Global Witness.
The
two international bodies have invited Magu to London to speak at an
international conference on money laundering and assets recovery on
March 2.
It was equally gathered that Buhari has stepped into the
perceived row between the DSS and the EFCC, which are both under the
Presidency.
While the DSS wrote the report that nailed Magu in the
Senate, the acting Chairman of the EFCC, during his grilling by
senators on Wednesday said the fact that the secret police sent two
letters on him to the Senate in 24 hours showed the kind of organization
it was.
A source said: “The Presidency has stepped into the matter.
“But
contrary to reports on Friday, there was no meeting or talk of any kind
on the confirmation of Magu in the Presidential Villa.”
Some publications had speculated that there was a meeting called by Buhari after Friday’s Jump prayer to resolved the issue.
This
was based on the fact that both Magu and the Director General of the
DSS, Lawal Daura, were at the mosque in the Presidential Villa for their
Friday prayer.
But a highly placed source in the Presidency said: “There was no meeting of sort.
“The men only came to pray and left thereafter.
No comments:
Post a Comment