Buhari oders probe of Magu, SGF, others, says any found guilty must be prosecuted

President Muhammadu Buhari has instructed the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), to look into the allegations of corruption involving some top government officials.

This was contained in statement released by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu on Sunday night.

According to the statement, the president vowed that should any of the accused be found guilty as purported, the offender must face prosecution.

The statement reads, “The attention of the Presidency has been drawn to a number of reports in the media, in which various accusations of corruption have been levelled against some top officials in the administration.

“In that regard, President Buhari has instructed the Attorney General of the Federation to investigate the involvement of any top government officials accused of any wrong-doing. If any of them are liable they will not escape prosecution.”

It what many believe was a big blow to President Buhari’s fight against corruption the Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Babachir David Lawal, was accused of corruption in the award of contracts by the Presidential Initiative on North East (PINE).

The Senate ad-hoc committee on mounting humanitarian crisis in the North east led by Senator Shehu Sani indicted the SGF in a N2.5billion fraud at PINE. This left the senators with no option than to call on President Buhari to sack and prosecute the SGF.

Read also: Senate releases details of SGF Lawal’s ‘sins’

And upon the SGF denial and choice of words to describe the Senate action, a more detailed report emerged from the legislative arm on how he committed the alleged fraud.

Also, the Senate refusal to confirm the acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, on allegation of fraud may have also put a dent on the administration’s fight against graft.

Senate had anchored its decision not to confirm Magu on a security report from Department of State Security (DSS), which it said indicted the anti-graft agency boss of crimes he was meant to fight.

 

 

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