EFCC is Battling with Bad Eggs within Its Fold, Says Magu

By Segun Awofadeji in Gombe

The acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Magu, has said that the commission has been battling with bad eggs within its fold who have been scuttling the fight against corruption.

Magu, who spoke to journalists shortly after a town hall meeting with stakeholders at the North-east zonal office of EFCC in Gombe Monday, said some of the staff found wanting on corruption charges are already being prosecuted, investigated, while some are serving jail terms.

According to him, “A lot of issues were raised that there is corruption in the EFCC. I agree, we are also doing a lot of things just like the way we are fighting corruption outside the EFCC. We also have a machinery in place in the EFCC, we call it internal affairs for fighting corruption right inside the EFCC and outside the EFCC.”

He said the fight against corruption should not be left to President Muhammadu Buhari or EFCC alone, but all Nigerians should take the responsibility of fighting corruption together.

He said: “I have realised that the most effective strategy in fighting corruption is to mobilise everybody on board. Let everybody join hands in the fight against corruption because we are all affected by the evil in corruption.”

The town hall meeting, he said, was aimed at assessing the performance of the commission and make corrections where necessary.

“Any time I visit my zonal offices, I insist that people should be brought around and they should assess us, tell us the truth and we see how we can correct it,” he stressed.

Issues raised among many others during the interactive session, bordered on complaints and interventions on money politics where huge sums of money are spent for delegates buying, the intervention of the anti-graft agency to increase minimum wage to curb corruption, the execution of recovered loot and more enlightenment on the activities of the commission.

There were allegations of corruption within the organisation, the persecution of those in opposition as well as the investigation of electricity distribution companies on high tarrif, low tempo of the whistle blowing policy and abandoned projects by governments and contractors.