Nothing has changed in the position of the Senate on the rejection of Mr.Ibrahim Magu as chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), spokesman for the Red Chamber of the National Assembly, Mr. Sabi Abdullahi,said yesterday Abdullahi, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media,spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in reaction to Thursday’s statement by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo that Magu ‘’will remain the EFCC chairman as long as I remain the Acting President and as well as Muhammadu Buhari remains the President.’’
Elsewhere yesterday,Magu declared that the now is the time to fight corruption with the backing of President Buhari and Vice President Osibanjo. ‘’We are committed to fight corruption. If we don’t do it now, forget it,’’ he told representatives of civil society organizations at an ineractive session in Kano. Mr. Abdullahi said: “the Senate has already made its resolution, and our resolutions are official statements. “And most times, based on how we communicate, we don’t go to press immediately because somebody has made a statement; we usually discuss issues.
“You know before we made that resolution the issue was debated. It is not because the executive has said something, we will react to it. We discuss issues first. “That is what makes up an institution. Nobody in the Senate is expressing his individual opinion. We are expressing the opinion of the Senate, its stand and its position. “We have given it a resolution. For now that is what subsists, and until we get a response, otherwise officially, we are not going back.” He asked all arms of government to respect the rule of law for the deepening of the democracy in the country.
“Let us work in the interest of Nigerians. We have made a point, a point which is clear,’’ he said. “He was brought to us for confirmation, and on the basis of damning reports from the DSS, we rejected him twice. It is left for Nigerians to see and we have done our part,” he said. However,Magu at the Kano meeting with civil society organizations said the anti-graft commission under his watch must win the war against corruption. His words:if Nigeria must move forward, we must fight corruption. Corruption is a threat to the unity of Nigeria.
The fight against corruption is fight for the survival of Nigeria. So, we must win this fight, because corruption is fighting back and we will not allow it. “Biafra and the call for restructuring of Nigeria and the issue of Boko Haram are all the products of corruption. So, we must not fold our arms and let this endemic syndrome continue. “There is no way corruption will continue in this country.
We have a president and a Vice President that are serious on the war against corruption. This is the only period in the history of Nigeria to have government that is serious against corruption. “Corruption has caused deterioration in the quality of infrastructure, healthcare delivery and education among others. So it is our duty to ensure we fight this scourge . “The looters are not up to 10,000 out of a population over one hundred million people. We will save the country from the scourge of corruption. “We can do it because we have the advantage of the number to push them out. Fighting corruption in the country is compulsory to have a better society.”
