The scathing remarks made by Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami on the acting Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Magu, has drawn the ire a pro-North organisation – Kanuri Collective Agenda (KCA).
Malami reportedly urged President Muhammadu Buhari to sack Magu for alleged infractions, including recovered loot mishandling, insurbordination and other sundry allegations.
The AGF was also said to have suggested three candidates for consideration as Magu’s replacement.
But the KCA tackled the AGF, insisting he was dragging Magu’s reputation in the mud.
In a statement by its spokesman Malam Waziri Ibrahim, the group told Buhari that Malami’s allegation will make mockery of the administration’s anti-corruption war and expose his administration to ridicule.
The statement reads: “By making such weighty allegation against Magu, the justice minister has only succeeded in telling the opposition and the international community that Buhari’s anti-corruption war is a farce because the champion of the anti-graft war is corruption-personified. The allegation also implies that Mr. President is running a very corrupt administration.
“Magu’s anti-corruption war has earned national and international accolades for this administration, which Malami has rubbished with his memo to Mr. President. Malami has provided the opposition with enough weapons to attack Mr. President and his administration.
“Indeed, even the opposition could not have made such damning allegation against Magu because no one could have believed them in view of his unblemished records. But when such allegation is coming from a key member of the administration who is believed to have insider knowledge of the key actors in government, the public may be inclined to believing such allegation.
“So, Malami has provided the opposition parties with weapons to rubbish Buhari’s anti-corruption war and take his administration to the cleaners.”
The group called on the President to disengage Malami.
It said: “If Malami is so disgruntled with President Buhari’s administration, it will be more honourable for him to resign rather than engaging in media attacks on the reputation of the entire administration.”
The Maiduguri-based group alleged that the AGF was abusing his unfettered access to the President to misadvise him on critical issues affecting Nigeria’s political and business environments.
KCA further alleged that the letter by Malami asking the President to fire Magu was one of such letters and legal opinions meant to settle scores and advance his interest in this present administration.
It said: “In business disputes, he offers unsolicited opinions as if he is a court of law. Now, he feels that sacking Magu will make him the most powerful official in Buhari’s cabinet,” the group said.
According to the KCA, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had already taken advantage of the situation by alleging at the weekend that Malami’s memo to the President has further exposed the corruption, deception and hypocrisy the party said pervade the Buhari-led government.
KCA quoted the main opposition party as saying that “it is the worst national embarrassment in the history of Nigeria, that the head of anti-corruption agency in an administration that prides itself on zero tolerance for corruption, “is being dragged on allegation of diversion of recovered funds and fraudulent sale of assets seized by the agency.”