Fresh facts have emerged on the reasons behind the Senators rejection of Ibrahim Magu as the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

According to ceoafrica, On Thursday, the Nigerian Senate declined to confirm the appointment of Ibrahim Magu as substantive chair of the country’s premier anti-graft agency, EFCC.

The upper legislative chamber claimed it could not approve the presidency’s request to confirm Magu based on a security report forwarded to it by the State Security Service.

“The Senate wishes to inform the public that based on available security report, the Senate cannot proceed with the confirmation of Ibrahim Magu as Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,” the spokesperson for the Senate, Aliyu Abdullahi, said in a statement.

However, details of the security report on which the lawmakers based their decision were obtained which goes thus:

ALLEGATION ONE: That during the tenure of Farida Waziri as EFCC chairperson, sensitive documents were found in Mr Magu’s house.

Based on pressure from political gladiators of the period (among which were former Governors James Ibori and Bukola Saraki), then President Musa Yar’Adua unceremoniously removed Nuhu Ribadu as chairman of the EFCC.

After Nuhu Ribadu’s departure, his successor, Mrs Farida Waziri, frustrated some of his closest and most resourceful aides in the commission, and harassed them for prolonged period.

Magu, who was a chief superintendent of police at the time, was sent away from the EFCC and his Lagos and Abuja houses were raided by operatives even before he had the opportunity to hand over to Umar Sanda as head of the Economic Governance Unit of the commission. He was later detained for three weeks.

Following complaints by Mrs Waziri, the then Inspector General of Police, Mike Okiro, queried Mr Magu, accusing him of serious misconduct among which were removing and withholding EFCC’s files.

On August 25, 2008, Ibrahim Magu replied the query, explaining to the IGP that no unauthorized EFCC official documents were found in his home.

“I wish to state that the nature of my assignment at the EFCC is such that I worked round the clock and it was impossible for me to do my work effectively without working on some documents at home,” he wrote to Mike Okiro at the time.

“This is the reason I maintain an office bag where documents relating to investigations were kept. The documents listed were found in my office bag which I was in the process of handing over and were not found hidden anywhere in my house.

“It is therefore not the correct position to say that I bluntly refused to hand over EFCC’s property and documents. I had just concluded handing over the Abuja office and I was in Lagos to conclude handing over the Lagos office when the search was conducted. At the time of the search, I had not reported to my new command. It could therefore not be my intention to keep government documents in my house.

“I have suffered untold humiliation within the past one month. My home was ransacked, vandalized and my properties destroyed by men of the EFCC. I was detained in a cell meant for hardened criminals most of whom are armed robbers for three weeks. My health condition deteriorated as a result of his inhuman treatment meted out to me for doing my job diligently and with the pride required of a senior police officer of my rank in the Nigerian Police Force.

“I humbly implore the Inspector General of Police to totally exonerate me from blame and the said acts of serious misconduct because I was not involved and I am not involved. I will never be discouraged in my unrelenting war against crime and its associated manifestations as enshrined in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

After investigation, the police IG exonerated Mr Magu, posted him to the police’s Special Fraud Unit and promoted him to the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police shortly afterwards.

ALLEGATION TWO: That Mr Magu currently occupies a residence rented for N40 million at N20 million per annum. This accommodation was not paid [for] from the commission’s (EFCC) finances, but by one Umar Mohammed, air commodore retired.

ALLEGATION THREE: That the acting EFCC chairman regularly embarked on official and private trips through a private jet owned by embattled Air Commodore Mohammed Umar (Rtd).

ALLEGATION FOUR: On 24 June, 2016, he (Magu) flew Emirate airlines first-class to Saudi Arabia to perform lesser hajj at the cost of N2.9m despite President Buhari’s directive to all public servants to fly economy class.