By
Ajayi Bamidele
Lagos
Island
The
attention of notable Nigerians have been drawn to the recent publication
credited to the Nigerian Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, describing
Mr. Ibrahim Mustapha Magu as the most senior staff of the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, which is false.
The
report was claimed to have emanated from an authority whose position is to
uphold the true tenets of democratic principles. Its position is expected to
represent the desire of the people in the fight against corruption and injustice
and expose it in the interest of the citizenry.
The
much expected protection of the rule of law and respect for the three arms
of government should prevail over what was said to have been jaundiced by
the repeated comments of the Nigerian Vice President, whose tenacity to protect
the embattled Acting Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, has been described
as compromised.
The
statement of the Vice President was then regarded as a clear indication that
the present administration was bent on holding tenaciously on to an individual
with who the Nigerian Senate declined his confirmation as the substantive
Chairman of the EFCC.
As a
prelude to the Number Two citizen of Nigeria though, Mr. Magu Mustapha Ibrahim
happens to be the most senior police officer posted to serve in the EFCC on
secondment but that does not make him a staff of the Commission.
Setting
the records straight, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is an
establishment of the National Assembly, 2003, 2004 and the Commission has three
internationally recognized and trained serving Directors, a position that is
equivalent to Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in the Federal Civil
Service ranking.
Suffice
it to note as well that the Commission has at least 20 serving deputy directors
who are staff of the EFCC, a rank that is equivalent to that of a
Commissioner of Police (CP) in the Nigeria Police Force.
The
Commission also has additional 20 Assistant Directors, who are equivalent to
the rank of a Deputy Commissioner of Police in the Nigeria Police Force. That
is the category where the embattled Action Chairman of the Commission, Mr.
Ibrahim Mustapha Magu, falls into.
Social
pundits now wonder how a Commission that has over 43 personnel, senior to Magu,
left out his superior in the Nation's Federal Civil Service ranking and
appointed a junior ranking officer as the chief executive, possibly to spite
his seniors in the Federal Civil Service working in the Commission.
Another
question that always comes to mind is the question on whether it is a crime to
assume leadership position without being given a corresponding
responsibility to measure with it, as in the present case.
Another
school of thought also argues on the wisdom of having those people trained
without giving them corresponding leadership responsibility to perfect the
knowledge acquired from their overseas training, meaning that such investment
on them was a waste.
I want
to suggest that the EFCC, having come of age, and having three internationally
respected Directors who are at the rank of AIG, and 20 deputy directors, as
well as an additional 20 Assistant Directors, should henceforth be allowed to
start piloting the affairs of the Commission.
Why
the continuous posting of Police Officers who are supposed to assist their
colleagues in the fight against insurgency in the North East and
protecting the internal security of the country, being their constitutional
responsibility, to an Anti-Graft Commission that has more capable
hands to effect the much needed change in the fight against Corruption in
the Nigeria?
I
suggest further that the Act of the National Assembly that established EFCC
should be reviewed to give room to professionalism in the nation’s
ministries, departments and agencies where core technocrats in the field would
be allowed to Man such offices without prejudice.
My
humble opinion goes to the respected office of the Vice President, Professor
Yemi Osinbajo, to reconsider his position on Magu's portfolio in the EFCC.
It
is high time the Commission’s capable hands were allowed to lead in the executive
cadre, because I know the VP is a promoter of due process that will
not support injustice where trained officers in a commission will be
allowed to pilot the affairs of the organization.
Inasmuch
as I know it is not a crime to labour and become a senior personnel in an
organization, we expect the All Progressives Congress (APC) led government to
allow peace to reign in the EFCC and let one of the 43 senior personnel to
Magu, who is even not a staff of the Commission, to start piloting the affairs of
the nation's leading Anti-Graft Commission.
A
thought echoed in my mind, wondering what's so special in the EFCC that Mr.
Magu refused to return to his core duty at the Nigeria Police Force. I want to
suggest if Mr. Magu Mustapha Ibrahim likes the EFCC, he should resign from the
Nigeria Police Force and convert to the be a staff of the EFCC.
I urge
the National Assembly to amend the Act that established the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to enable it to function effectively,
whereby the position of the chief executive of the Commission should be ceded
to one of the most ranked officers in the Commission.
It is
a development that will engender dedication and commitment to the cause and
reduce grumbling among the staff where a junior officer from another agency is
brought in to superintendent the operation of a Commission that has
internationally acknowledged technocrats in crime fighting and anti-corruption
drive.
The
Presidency and the National Assembly are hereby called upon to act fast and
correct this injustice meted out to the top officers of the EFCC who have
served and contributed immensely to the growth and development of the
Commission.
END