EFCC chairman’s removal has political undertones

Nigeria

Published on Monday, 13 July 2020 Back to articles

What started as a rumour that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s (EFCC) chairman had been arrested turned out to be true and a potential problem for President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption fight. While Ibrahim Magu was probably arrested because he has been compromised in the fight against corruption, there are also political intrigues underlying the arrest. 

Magu’s problems have implicated other members of the Buhari administration. One blogger claimed that Magu had confessed to having given US$10.3 million to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who promptly denied the allegations. Osinbajo’s close aides believe that his rivals for the 2023 Presidency are deliberately sponsoring the allegations against him. They argue that Osinbajo is the man to beat in 2023 — especially if he gets Buhari’s backing — and that this allegation is part of efforts to turn Buhari against him and also ensure that, even if he gets Buhari’s backing, he is too tarnished to be a successful candidate. 

This argument has been strengthened because the Attorney General for the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami — who forced through Magu’s removal and the replacement by his own preferred successor — is thought to be working for Kebbi State’s Governor Atiku Bagudu who is also interested in succeeding Buhari. For his part, Malami wants to succeed Bagudu as governor when he ends his second term tenure in 2023. The two men therefore have an interest in helping one another achieve their ambitions. They played a key role in the removal of the APC’s national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, who was another person who was working for one of Bagudu’s potential 2023 rivals. 

Senior political sources therefore believe that Magu’s removal is part of the longer-term game by the Bagudu-Malami faction. It is also seen as no coincidence that, the day after Magu was suspended from office, a group of unknown protesters appeared in Abuja demanding an investigation of the APC’s national leader, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on allegations of corruption. 

Magu deliberately avoided investigating Tinubu even when he received petitions against him. There were allegations against Tinubu over the movement of two bullion vans which are suspected of carrying cash to his house on the eve of the 2019 presidential elections. Magu declined to launch an investigation despite simultaneously prosecuting a relative of opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, over allegations of money laundering linked with the 2019 elections. Magu was clearing shielding Tinubu even though it was unclear if he was doing so on Buhari’s instructions or purely based on his own discretion not to cause confusion in the APC. 

This excerpt is taken from Nigeria Politics & Security, our weekly intelligence report on Nigeria. Click here to receive a free sample copy.

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