The suit challenging the continuous stay of Ibrahim Magu as the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been dismissed.
It was dismissed by Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
The suit was challenging the legality of Magu’s position as EFCC acting chairman after the Dr. Bukola Saraki-led Eighth Senate refused to confirm him as the substantive chair of the anti-graft agency.
In his capacity as Senate President, Saraki explained that the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly declined to confirm Magu because President Muhammadu Buhari failed to lobby the lawmakers.
In her judgement, Justice Ojukwu dismissed the suit, saying “This case cannot be entertained as it has failed and accordingly dismissed.”
The judge held that the EFCC Act, especially Section 2(3), did not restrict the powers of the President to retain Magu as acting chairman of the commission.
Sounding poetic, the trial judge noted that the lacuna in the law literally handed President Buhari the “proverbial yam and the knife to do as he pleases, being that there is no specific time stipulated for acting capacity.”
The judge further averred that Order 1(2)1 of the Senate Rule applies only to ministerial appointees and cannot be enforced on the position of the acting chairman of the EFCC.
Source: The Nation
