By Oluwatunmise
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has said the Senate has something to hide over its refusal to confirm Ibrahim Magu as the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The group through a statement signed by its Director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola said there was more to it than meet the eye in the rejection of Magu.
The Senate last week for the second tome refused to confirm Magu as the substantive Chairman of the EFCC, citing a negative report by the Department of State Services. In the report, the DSS accused Magu of several wrongdoings.
MURIC in the statement said: “The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) strongly condemns Senate’s action. It is victory for the monster called corruption. Senate has shown that it is not fighting corruption. On the contrary, it is fighting for corruption. By rejecting a firebrand anti-graft boss, our senators have sent out a wrong signal to the international community. But Senate has been too clever by half. It has exposed itself as an institution with skeleton in its cupboard”
Continuing it said: “A statement credited to Senator Akpabio in which he allegedly said: ‘Magu wants us to confirm him so he can use some of us for pepper soup’ lends credence to our hypothesis. Akpabio’s alleged utterance confirms our worst fears. This Senate will not confirm any EFCC boss who refuses to withdraw cases involving its members. This Senate will not confirm any anti-graft boss who is not ready to treat senators as sacred cows even if they are corrupt. We also entertain the fear that these senators will not allow any other EFCC boss to function effectively even if Magu is removed.
“Our suspicion has been confirmed by Senator Akpabio. Now we know why Senate rejected Magu. It is simply because our senators’ hands are not clean so they fear a no-nonsense anti-graft boss. Yet we know where Akpabio is coming from. He was invited twice by the EFCC last year after Leo Ekpeyong, an Abuja-based lawyer and activist, wrote a petition in which he accused Akpabio of looting a whooping sum of N108 billion belonging to the Akwa-Ibom government.
“Apart from Senator Akpabio, eight other senators, including the Senate President, are facing corruption charges amounting to billions of naira. It is therefore paradoxical that a tainted Senate sits in judgment over the fate of the same man investigating not only its helmsman but also many of its members. What do you expect? Senate has not disappointed us. It has demonstrated its readiness to kill EFCC and any other anti-corruption agency that has the temerity to investigate its members.
The group further suggest that those facing corruption trial should not be allowed to contest in elections and if they use technicalities to wriggle through and become candidates, the Nigerian electorate should reject them at the polls.
