Magu appointed Ag. EFCC Boss; to replace Lamorde

Femi Adesina, Special Adviser (Media and Publicity) to the President

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Mr. Ibrahim Mustafa Magu, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, and the Deputy Director of Internal Affairs of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as acting chairman of the commission.

He takes over  from Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde who is proceeding on terminal leave ahead of the formal expiration of his tenure in February next year, according to a statement released Monday by the Special Adviser (Media and Publicity) to the President, Femi Adesina.

Magu, whom Police sources described as "a fearless investigator who can stand up to any duty," is a graduate of Accountancy from the University of Maiduguri and a Certified Accountant.

"He has the capacity for this assignment. He is prudent and he likes to work conclusively on investigations. He is coming with a huge experience in investigation of financial crimes. He is an assistant commissioner of police, a Kanuri from Borno state of the North-east," said a source who worked with him at the Police Special Fraud Unit, Abuja, last night.

He served as head of the Economic Governance Unit (EGU) of the EFCC during the tenure of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, as chairman of the commission. Magu was said to have made several enemies because of his fearless attitude to official work.

He is a trained financial crimes investigator with background in forensic accounting, and training at the FBI institute and the London Metropolitan Police institute. He had also served, prior to his EFCC posting, in Bosnia under the United Nations peacekeeping police operation.

Magu is also a member of the investigative committee convened by National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno, on the orders of President Muhammadu Buhari to probe the procurement of arms in the Armed Forces from 2007 till now.

Though Adesina's two-paragraph statement which announced Lamorde's exit from EFCC said he would be proceeding on terminal leave ahead of the formal expiration of his tenure in February next year, there had been allegations of corruption leveled against him, which had attracted the attention of the Senate.

A Presidency source revealed last night that "Lamorde had tried to defend himself against the allegation of corrupt practices levelled against him; it is obvious that the perception that Lamorde is corrupt is affecting the anti-corruption crusade of Mr. President. He just has to go.