The new acting chairman of the anti-graft agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu and his sacked colleague and friend, Lamorde both have many things in common.
Lamorde and Magu were both pioneer staff of the agency under Nuhu Ribadu and have both worked together in the operations department with Lagos as the base.
Coincidentally, the sacked Lamorde and the new kid on the block, Magu, share same name, Ibrahim.
However, more than Lamorde, Magu has had a turbulent time at the agency and was the target of a state-sponsored persecution under Farida Waziri’s headship of the agency.
His most recent assignment and a clear idea that the once vilified anti-graft czar is on his way back to power and reckoning, was his membership of the committee set up by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to probe the procurement of arms in the Armed Forces from 2007 to date.
Magu, unlike Lamorde is perceived to be highly incorruptible and because of this posture, he was made the head of the sensitive Economic Governance Unit (EGU), which handles investigations of senior public officials. He played the role dutifully.
As head of the EGU, some of the investigations he spearheaded included the alleged involvement of Senate President Bukola Saraki in the collapse of Societe Generale Bank of Nigeria; and James Ibori, former Governor of Delta State, who is serving jail term in United Kingdom for money laundering.
He also played a role in the investigation and eventual jailing of former managing director of the Bank of the North, Shettima Mohammed Bulama, said to be his own brother in law.
After Ribadu was removed in controversial circumstance by former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Magu was also targeted for further persecution.
Farida Waziri, who took over in 2008, was said to be uncomfortable with his presence over issues surrounding loyalty and for her, the way out of not dining with the ‘devil’ is by either shoving him completely out of the agency or send to “Siberia.”
Magu’s troubles peaked when he was accused of illegally keeping case files of top politicians being investigated by the commission in August 2008.
His house in Abuja was searched and his property, including a laptop computer with sensitive files, was carted away by officials of the EFCC on the instruction of Waziri.
That provided Waziri, who was then widely believed to be the candidate of the super corrupt Nigerians then in firm control of the late Yar’Adua government, opportunity to return him to the Police.
Redeployed to the police after days of detention with nothing incriminating found against him, Magu was later suspended from the force, without salaries for several months. He was out in the cold.
He however had a reprieve when his friend and colleague, and another Ibrahim, Lamorde became the EFCC chair.
Lamorde returned Magu to the commission.
Coincidentally, again, Magu who was brought back to EFCC by Lamorde after he was confirmed as substantive EFCC boss in 2012, has now becomes Lamorde’s successor.
As it is, the EFCC is still under Ibrahim, though this time, Magu and not Lamorde.
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