EXECUTIVE SESSION................Meet EFCC's Ibrahim MAGU Portrait of A Tireless Corruption Fighter
“The cancer that demands our urgent attention is corruption
and poverty”-. Miriam Defensor-Santiago
Our guest at Executive session today is a tireless fighter of corruption. He is Ibrahim Magu, acting Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), anywhere he goes he preaches on ills and dangers of corruptions - always stressing on the importance of having an effective international collaboration between law enforcement agencies as part of efforts to combat corruption in the country.
Magu, was only recently at the International Association of
Anti-Corruption Authorities, IAACA, in Vienna, Austria, and noted that the cost
of corruption was enormous and needed a broader approach to be tackled.
“Corruption is acknowledged to have been an impediment to
sustainable development in Africa, and the cost is so enormous that there is an
urgent need for international collaboration for success to be achieved,” he
said.
According to him, though the international community has created
legal and institutional framework for the prevention and recovery of proceeds
of corruption, recovery of stolen assets stashed away in foreign lands still
remained a major issue to be tackled.
While calling for more synergy in repatriation of stolen wealth,
Magu noted that in spite of the challenges, there were success stories to
celebrate.
He said: “Successes recorded in recovery of stolen assets have
been achieved through Memoranda of Understanding, MoU signed between Nigeria and
several countries including Switzerland, the United Kingdom, UK, the United
Arab Emirates, UAE, and the United States, US, in line with Article 57
paragraph 5 of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, UNCAC.
“The UK government returned stolen funds to Nigeria in the cases
of Dariye and Alamieseigha, with over 5 million pounds recovered from the
former Bayelsa State governor in 2012.
“In the case of Joshua Dariye, a former Governor of Plateau
State in Nigeria, the British government also returned £48,000 to Nigeria in fulfillment
of the UK’s commitments “under Chapter V of the United Nations Convention against
Corruption.
“In 1999, the Swiss authorities pursuant to a request for mutual
legal assistance, returned about $723m to Nigeria.”
He further revealed that a tripartite MoU between the Swiss
government, the World Bank and Nigerian government, also led to the return of
additional $320 million Abacha loot.
Other classes of recoveries made by the EFCC, according to Magu,
included, whistle blowers cash recoveries, subsidy payment cash recoveries,
third party cash recovery for NNPC, FIRS, NPA, AMCON and Banks.
“In 2017, EFCC made a total recovery of N473, 065,195,977.50,
$142,504,121.12, and most of the recoveries, were non-conviction based asset recovery,”
he said.
He listed some of them to include, Real Estates belonging to
Diezani Alison-Madueke, a former Petroleum Minister and her associates;
$43,449,947, £27,800 and N23,218,000 recovered in an apartment at Osborne Road,
Ikoyi, Lagos in 2017; $9,772,800 and another sum of £74,000 cash in Kaduna,
belonging to Andrew Yakubu, a former Group General Manager of NNPC in 2017.
MAGU : A BRIEF PORTRAIT
According to information
made available to WORLD LEADERS EXECUTIVE SESSION by EFCC, Magu, was born in Maiduguri township on 5th
May 1962 to the family of Mallam Mustafa Magu and Hajiya Bintu Magu. He
attended Yarwa Practicing Primary School in Maiduguri between 1969 and 1975. He
studied for his West African School Certificate at Government Secondary School Waka Biu from
1975 to 1980.
To further his
education, Magu obtained ‘A’ level Certificate from the School of Basic
Studies, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria in 1982 and between 1983 and 1986
studied for a degree in Accounting at the Institute of Administration, Ahmadu
Bello University, Zaria graduating with a Bachelor’s of Science Honors in
Accounting. He served as the NYSC Accountant at the Benue State Health Services
Management Board, Makurdi and in 1987 was appointed full time Accountant II by
the Borno State Government where he served in various Ministries and
Departments in the State Government as an Accountant and rose to become a Zonal
Accountant, State Ministry of Education, Biu from where he voluntarily resigned
to join the Nigeria Police Force as an Assistant Superintendent of Police
in 1990.
After his mandatory
eighteen months training as cadet trainee, he was posted to the Rivers
State Police Command where he served in various capacities as Crimes
Investigation Officer, Commander Patrol and Guards and Unit Commander in
the Police Mobile Force Unit. He has also served at the Police Force
Headquarters Kam Salem House Lagos in 1998. He was the Coordinator, Nigeria
Police Building Society before moving on to the newly established Special
Fraud Unit (SFU) of the Nigeria Police Criminal Investigations Department (CID)
where he served as a team leader in charge of Financial Crimes, Money
Laundering and Advance Fee Fraud investigation.
In 2002, he was promoted Superintendent of Police (SP) and posted
to Ekiti Police Command; he also served briefly in the FCT Command
Headquarters as the officer in charge of General Investigation and
Monitoring Unit before he was seconded to the newly established Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in May 2003 where he was appointed its
pioneer Head of Administration and Finance. He later headed the Economic
Governance Section of the Commission, dealing with general investigations,
financial crimes and money laundering in both the public and private
sector. He was promoted Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) in 2003.
In a bid to sanitize the country and ensure best
international practice in government business, the President of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria commissioned a Joint Special Presidential Task
Force on Good Governance in June 2006. Mr. Magu was deployed as its
Supervising officer and Head of
Administration. In 2009, Magu was redeployed to the
Nigeria Police and posted to State Criminal Investigations Department
Ekiti State Police Command as its deputy head. He also served in the Anti-Fraud
Investigations Section of the Force Criminal Investigations Department
between 2010 and 2012; and was also the Second-in-Command, Special
Investigation Bureau (SIB), Nigeria Police Force Headquarters.
Magu was promoted Assistant Commissioner of Police in
September 2012 and posted briefly to Anambra State Command as Assistant
Commissioner of Police (Operations), before he was redeployed to the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission as the Deputy Director,
Directorate of Professional Responsibility. He attended several courses, seminars
and workshops notably on Anti-Money Laundering courses with the Federal Bureau
of Investigations; Anti-Terrorism and Combating the Financing of Terrorism
with the United State Department of Justice, United States Department of Homeland
Security, amongst others.
He served in various Committees and participated in a number
of ad hoc assignments which include Technical Committee on the Establishment
of the Nigeria Finance Intelligence Unit; member, Federation Accounts
Allocation Committee; member Presidential Task Force on the Decongestion
of Eastern Ports; member, Federal Government Committee on Cyber Security
Legislation in Nigeria. Magu is currently a member of the Presidential Investigation
Committee on the Procurement of Firearms from 2007 – 2015.
At the International sphere, Magu has engaged with the
United States Postal Inspection Service, the FBI, the US Securities and
Exchange Commission, the US Financial Crime Enforcement Unit (FINCENT),
the South African Anti-Corruption Unit (Scorpion) and the Hong Kong
Anti-Corruption Agency, on trainings and/or joint investigations. He has
also collaborated with the Metropolitan Police, London, Her Majesty’s
Customs and Excise and Scotland Yard. He worked with the United States government
in the WILBROS Bribery Investigation, the Halliburton Investigations. He has
also closely worked with the CBN, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the
Nigeria Customs Service, the Nigeria Finance Intelligence Unit, Department
of State Services, Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), the
Code of Conduct Bureau and the Nigeria Police. Magu who is currently a
Deputy Commissioner of Police was appointed acting Chairman of the EFCC on
November 9, 2015. He enjoys travelling, playing football, reading and writing
That is MAGU for you, a portrait of a tireless corruption fighter
©
Czar Mike De Cerutti Osagie
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