BY EDMOND ODOK – Former Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ibrahim Magu has blamed his woes and inglorious exit from the anti-graft agency on corruption fighting back to thwart the work done to sanitise the nation’s financial system.
Making the assertion on Sunday in Abuja, Magu said there were many odds against the Commission, therefore it was not surprising that its efforts at tackling corruption ran into lots of obstacles placed before it by various interest groups.
Magu, who spoke at an award ceremony organised in his honour by Northern Female Students Association (NFSA), said; “I am a victim of corruption fighting back, but I am happy that recent events are revealing the truth to Nigerians’.
The ex-EFCC boss, represented by his son, Mr Mohammad-Saeed Ibrahim-Magu at the award ceremony, appreciated the association for conferring on him the award of “Achiever per Excellence’’, adding that he was very happy to be so honoured.
In her remarks, the spokesperson of NFSA, which is an umbrella body of female students of northern extraction studying in Nigerian universities, Ms Aisha Nasir, said Magu was unanimously chosen and conferred with the award for his dedication to national service.
According to her; “The anti-corruption fight in Nigeria is a binding moral duty that requires seeing beyond political affiliations or preferences”, adding; “Love him or hate him, Ibrahim Magu took the anti-corruption fight to uncharted levels where many people thought could never be attained.”
The Association expressed happiness that “Magu attracted continental and global commendations for tackling what had been described as the leading factor hindering the growth and development of African nations and economies”.
The NFSA’s award is coming on the heels of the October 4, 2022 judgment of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court delivered by Justice Yusuf Halilu, which exonerated Magu of a false claim that Pastor Emmanuel Omale of the Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministry, and his wife, Deborah, laundered N573 million for him as the chairman of EFCC.
The judgment was delivered on the suit marked: FCT/HC/CV2541/2020 filed by Omale, his wife, and the Church against its bankers, First City Monument Bank (FCMB) over allegations that he used the said money to buy a property for Magu in Dubai.
Following Magu’s probe by the retired Justice Isa Salami-led presidential panel, it was claimed an investigation by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), revealed that Magu paid N573million into Omale’s church’s account.
However, Justice Halilu noted in his judgment that the evidence before the court indicated that Omale’s bank admitted an error in its report to the NFIU, of entries in Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministry’s account, adding that the bank also admitted the purported N573 million was wrongly reflected as credit entry into the Church’s account by its reporting system, which it recently upgraded.
Noting that the bank admitted the error, which caused incalculable damage to the reputation of Pastor Omale, his wife, and their church within and outside the country, the Court also awarded the sum of N540.5 million as damages to Omale against FCMB for the falsely generated weekly report of a “suspicious’’ credit inflow of N573.2 million.
Recalled that Magu, now an Assistant Inspector-General (AIG) of Police, was suspended as acting chairman of the EFCC on 7th July 2020 over allegations of gross misconduct. – With NAN reports
