The Magu story

By Joseph Edgar… The unseriousness of the corruption battle has finally come home to berth. Make no mistake I am not on the side of the Senate in this matter. It is becoming very clear that according to reports, they have allegedly gone to wait for the EFCC honcho, Magu, down the road and have taken their piece of flesh.

This to me has thrown up a structural defect in the appointment and positioning of the corruption czar in a country that needs an effective crusade against corruption. Asking those who have one case or the other to answer or to ratify an appointment, especially that of someone who has shown in words and in deeds the seriousness in his intention, is to ask for the unnatural.

The honest truth is that nobody in the position of the Assembly would ratify that kind of appointment. It just begs the fact and from reports, the expected has happened and at this point we must now look at the structure, the office and the person of whoever is going to be the head of the anti corruption body.

My thinking is that this appointment should be made by the Attorney General and not having to go through the Senate or National Assembly. This way you avoid this kind of road block but the Attorney General being an officer of the Executive made to submit to the oversight function of the National Assembly. He can be summoned and asked to defend or explain the activities of his Czar rather than exposing the czar to them.

On second thought, the office of the EFCC can be subject to the electorate. He can be voted for with a fixed tenor. He can be sworn in by the Chief Justice of the federation and held under the same kinds of control as the President using the constitution. This way he is responsible to the people of Nigeria and controlled by the constitution. That way, he owes no man his position and would be in a better position to carry out his duty in a fair and just manner.

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This is what is practiced in other climes where the public prosecutor is voted for. This EFCC confirmation by the House would lead to a whole lot of horse trading and deals which in essence would water down his power, erode his influence and open up gaping holes in the corruption battle.

We are already seeing this happen in this case. All sort of request have allegedly been quoted as being put on the table for negotiation. The Government would now be in a quandary as to what to do hence the stalemate. If this is not carefully handled it would even begin to erode the presidency for the President would be open to one of two options. Either he seats and negotiates his candidate through, thereby falling in the estimation of the public, weakening his presidency and allowing some cases go or he gets an amenable ‘friend’ of the house in. Both options expose the President and put him in a position not to deliver on one of his main electioneering promises.

So my take is for the appointment of the Head of the EFCC to be an electable one, giving him his independence since he will be owing his office to the people who elected him into the position.

 

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