I’m Glad Senate Didn’t Confirm Me As Chairman Of Anti-Graft Agency Says Magu

I’m Glad Senate Didn’t Confirm Me As Chairman Of Anti-Graft Agency Says Magu

The acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,
Ibrahim Magu, said on Thursday that he was glad the Senate refused to
confirm him as the substantive chairman of the anti-graft agency.

Magu said if the Senate had confirmed him, perhaps he would not have been able to perform as much as he had done.

The acting chairman said this before the Lagos State High Court in
Ikeja where he was testifying in a libel suit he filed against The Sun
Newspaper.

Magu had sued publishers of the Sun Newspaper for a
series of publications which he described as libellous and injurious to
his character.

The EFCC boss who sued the publishers before
Justice Doris Okuwobi claimed N5bn damages and also demanded that The
Sun Newspapers should publish an apology and retract the alleged
libellous publications.

Magu, under cross-examination by the
respondent’s counsel, Charles Enwelunta, said he was not worried that he
had been rejected by the Senate twice.

He said, “I have been
rejected by the Senate twice and it does not worry me that I’m not
confirmed; I’m not bothered. It’s good that they did not confirm me, I
may not be able to work very well as we have been able to get over 700
convictions.”

He claimed before the court that he had only one
house in the Karo area of Abuja as against the publication of The Sun
Newspaper alleging that two houses were traced to his wife by the
Department of State Services.

Magu dismissed as false The Sun
Newspaper’s publication of March 25, 2017, titled ‘Magu under fresh
probe,’ which claimed that two houses located in a highbrow area in
Maitama, Abuja were traced to his wife and that he was under discreet
investigation by the DSS.

He said, “Since I came to the EFCC,
nobody has investigated me. I am not under any probe, the publication is
totally false. Even if I have the money, I wouldn’t buy houses in
Maitama.

“My wife is a civil servant. We only have one house sold to us in Karo, Abuja. The publication is completely untrue.

“I want to tell you the damage it has done to me. It was not done to me
alone, it has gone down my lineage, the entire family, and it has done
so much wrong. It has done so much damage.”

Justice Okuwobi adjourned the matter till February 28, 2019 for further proceedings.