An intense battle has ensued over Ibrahim Magu’s tenure as Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). A group of politicians and others affected by the aggressive anti-graft drive of the acting EFCC Chairman, are working for the termination of his tenure on November 11.
Magu was appointed on November 11, 2015 by President Muhammadu Buhari but the eighth Senate declined to clear him. He has been working in acting capacity since then. Under him, the EFCC has recovered about N939.51billion in four years, according to a document obtained on the activities of the anti-graft agency.
About 1,636 convictions were also secured within the same period. The development has brought cash recovery by the agency between 2009 and 2019 to N1.28 trillion. Magu’s four-year acting tenure has been dotted with activities, including high-profile prosecution and convictions of two former governors, Joshua Dariye (Plateau) and Jolly Nyame (Taraba). The fact-sheet reads in part: “Total cash recovery in naira reached N1.28 trillion between 2009 – 2019 (August), out of which N939.51 billion or 73 per cent was recovered between 2015 and 2019 (August).
“The recoveries (Naira equivalent) in the last four years under Magu are: N33,180,830.790(2015); N170, 276,862,880(2016); N473,065,195.970(2017); N216,455,497.764(2018); and N46,534,536.954 (as at August 2019). “In terms of the United States dollars, the EFCC made the following recoveries in the last four years: $42,917,205(2015); $69,142,551(2016); $142,505,121(2017); $47,290,174(2018); and $13,458,041.
“Others cash in pounds included £147,100(2015); £44,785 (2016); £294,852 (2017); £873, 278 (2018); and £4,644,493 (So far in 2019). “For the recoveries in Euro since 2015, the breakdown reads, €832,237(2015); €56,470 (2016); €7,247,364 (2017); €298,055(2018); and €53,025 (2019).
