By Akinwale Kasali
The Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu, has sarcastically mocked the Senate, saying that he is happy that the Senate didnt confirm his appointment as the substantive chairman of the anti-graft agency.
Magu added that if he had been confirmed by the Senate he would perhaps not have been able to discharge his duties appropriately as he is doing presently.
Magu made this statement at the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja where he was testifying in a libel suit he filed against The Sun Newspaper.
The anti-graft boss had sued publishers of the Sun Newspaper for a series of publications which he described as libellous and injurious to his character.
The libel suit was before Justice Doris Okuwobi, where the EFCC boss claimed N5billion damages and also demanded that The Sun Newspapers should publish an apology and retract the alleged libellous publications.
Magu was cross examined by the respondent’s counsel, Charles Enwelunta, said he was not worried that he had been rejected by the Senate twice, but saw it as a blessing in disguise, because if he had been confirmed he may not have achieved and succeeded.
He said, “I have been rejected by the Senate twice and it does not worry me that I’m not confirmed; I’m not bothered. It’s good that they did not confirm me, I may not be able to work very well as we have been able to get over 700 convictions.”
He claimed before the court that he had only one house in the Karo area of Abuja as against the publication of The Sun Newspaper alleging that two houses were traced to his wife by the Department of State Services.
Magu dismissed as false The Sun Newspaper’s publication of March 25, 2017, titled ‘Magu under fresh probe,’ which claimed that two houses located in a highbrow area in Maitama, Abuja were traced to his wife and that he was under discreet investigation by the DSS.
