EFCC employees want use of police as chairman discontinued

There is agitation within the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) concerning the continued use of a police officer as head of the anti-graft agency as employees of the commission want a change of law to enable credible civilians to occupy the post.

This is coming as the probe of the erstwhile acting Chairman of the Commission, Ibrahim Magu, continued in the State House Conference Hall, Abuja on Monday.

It was gathered that whereas the act establishing that EFCC provides that the Chairman should be an Assistant Commissioner of Police or its equivalent, such appointees had ensured to populate the rank and file with police personnel thereby making the commission to look like a police outfit.

Those who want the less use of police personnel argue that even though most of the officers were brought to the commission on secondment, they usually do not return to their places of origin.

It was learnt that the majority of them had remained in the commission for up to 17 years on such secondment.

The suspended Chairman is said to be one of such police personnel who was posted there but never returned to his original office.

A source close to the commission alleged that the dominant use of police personnel at the commission has turned it into a sort of colonial outfit from what was supposed to be a democratic institution.

An EFCC insider wondered why the police who it claimed have a poor image among citizens will continue to run an anti-corruption body that should be seen as above board.

The source said: “Kanu Agabi (Attorney General under President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration) brought Ribadu, an Assistant Commissioner of Police. Then, Nuhu Ribadu brought police people on secondment. Secondment means come and help build the institution, after two years they go back and renewable of another two years then you go back.

“But these people came and didn’t want to go back again. Some of them have stayed in this organization for up to 17 years. One of them is Magu who just entered the problem some others have remained 17 years, which is against the law.

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“You don’t go to secondment and remain there. I don’t know what is wrong with the government, whether it claims not to know this.

“Police have turned this place as a police establishment. It’s not a police establishment neither is it a police department. It is an independent body, that is why Nuhu Ribadu recruited the operatives and trained them to carry a gun.

“But the Police are doing as if they own the place, they don’t want to leave and it has been turned to that kind of colonial master arrangement.

“How can you say that police is not good and you hand over the commission to the police? Can you get anything good from bad wine? No, you can’t get anything good from bad wine.

“We are not saying that all the police are bad, there are some better than us but they are not many.

“Few of them are very good, they cannot do anything bad. Some of us are also as bad as the police because we are working with them. We are saying after staying for 17 years, there is need for change, bring some other persons, it could be DSS, it could be NIA, it could be lawyers or even some senior operatives in the commission that are directors.”

Meanwhile, Magu on Monday again appeared before the Justice Ayo Salami presidential panel investigating allegations of corruption against him.

The former anti-corruption boss arrived at the venue at about 9 am for the continuation of his defence before the panel.

Apart from Magu, the panel has grilled other top officials of the commission who have provided their perspectives on the issues being investigated.

Some of the directors who were unable to provide satisfactory explanations were however given Tuesday to return to the panel.

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