Ali Ndume, former
Senate majority leader, has reacted to the Senate’s decision not to
confirm Ibrahim Magu, as chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) based on allegations leveled against him.
According
to Ndume, if Magu should not be confirmed based on allegations levelled
against him, then he should not be a sitting senator and Bukola Saraki
should not be there as Senate president.
Ndume made this known while speaking on Sunrise Daily, a breakfast programme on Channels Television.
Ndume says that Saraki should not be Senate president if Magu could be rejected
He faulted the action of the Senate to reject Magu's nomination.
He said: “We have all been accused, I have been accused of sponsoring Boko Haram, the senate president is still going to court.
“Same
as other members who have cases in court, yet they occupy seats in the
senate. So, if you say because of the allegations he (Magu) should not
be confirmed, then I should not be a sitting senator and Saraki should
not be there as senate president.”
Ndume, who said he conducted personal investigation on Magu, absolved him of the allegations.
He added: “The bottom line is
that we are trying to fight against corruption and if we ask: ‘is Magu
doing his job?’, the answer is yes, undoubtedly. He is not an actor, he
is a policeman doing investigation. He is not supposed to talk about
what his job is in an articulate manner, it’s not important. What he is
doing is not a TV show.”
The
former Senate majority leader also said that he would be surprised if
President Buhari mentioned Magu’s confirmation during his last meeting
with leaders of the national assembly.
Buhari met Saraki and Yakubu Dogara at the presidential villa in Abuja, a day to the day Magu was rejected at the senate.
He said: “The
president I know is not the kind of person that would interfere in such
matters. I would have been surprised if the president discussed the
issue of confirmation when he met the leaders of the national assembly
recently, that would have led to the issue of lobbying for him to be
confirmed.
“There is no crime against
lobbying, in fact we are supposed to lobby. I lobbied most of the
senators but sometimes you keep on learning because this is kind of new.
A government where you (APC) are in the majority and the president
re-nominates a candidate, and also in a situation where the issue at
stake is an accusation; in the normal circumstance and by our
constitution, accusation is not conviction.
“The
issue now is not the house in his name, it’s a house called the safe
house and that was prompted because after his acting appointment and the
rigorous work he is doing, you can’t afford to have somebody like that
living in Karu or a densely populated area.”
Recall that the upper chamber on Wednesday, March 15, rejected the nomination of Magu as EFCC boss, citing a report of the Department of State Services (DSS).
The DSS had said Magu was unfit to lead the commission because he had failed an integrity test.
0 comments: