Magu's Lawyer Breaks Silence Over Appointment Of New EFCC Chairman

The lawyer to the former acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, Tosin Ajaomo has broken his silence about the appointment of a new chairman to head the anti-graft agency. He said the announcement came as a shock to him.

Ajaomo stated this during an interview on Channels Television's Politics Today shortly after the announcement was made by the President. 

Speaking on the programme, he said justice has not been served in the allegations of corruption levelled against the erstwhile EFCC boss.

“Sincerely I need to tell you that this appointment came to me as a shock. There is still an unfinished assignment that was pending. I was expecting that the issue of Magu would have been sorted out before moving to another stage.”

“Unfortunately, we just got this news today that a new Chairman has been nominated by the President and his name has been forwarded to the Senate,” he said.

The legal practitioner admitted that President Buhari has the power by law to appoint a new Chairman for the anti-graft agency. He, however, noted that when Justice Ayo Salami-led panel set up by the President to investigate Magu on the graft allegations, the Federal Government should have made the report of the findings public.

READ ALSO: Buhari Appoints 40-Year-Old As New EFCC Chairman

“It is obvious that when you talk of justice, you know what justice is all about. Somebody was suspended to be investigated, waiting for the report on the same issue. As an acting Chairman of the commission, he was suspended for an allegation that has not been proven against him.

“At the end of the day, the report which everybody was expecting to know whether the man has been found wanting or not, suddenly no report came out and another appointment was made,” he added.

Recall that Magu was on July 10, 2020, suspended from office by President Muhammadu Buhari, who directed the EFCC Director of Operations, Mohammed Umar, to take charge and oversee the activities of the commission.