Legal practitioner, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, has withdrawn the court case he filed against the confirmation of Ibrahim Magu, as the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
At the Federal High Court, Sitting in Lagos, on Monday, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Tayo Oyetibo, who appeared for Adegboruwa, told the presiding Justice Mojisola Olatoregun that he had persuaded his client to drop the case, in order to encourage Magu in the anti-corruption campaign.
He also said there was need to give Magu the opportunity to continue the anti-corruption campaign of the present administration and the case may affect Magu’s confirmation as such, it was better to discontinue it.
Adegboruwa who was present in court also got up to confirm this.
He told the court that he was well persuaded by his counsel and in his second coming, Mr Magu will do a good job, to be more rule of law friendly and be holistic in his approach to the anti-corruption drive of the administration.
Lawyer to Magu, Wahab Shittu, said he was happy with the development and was not opposed to the withdrawal of the case.
He also expressed the belief that the withdrawal would boost the anti-corruption war of the Buhari-led administration, especially with input and support of lawyers and activists like Mr Adegboruwa, who should bring their wealth of experience to bear on the fight against corruption.
After listening to all the parties, Justice Olatoregun consequently struck out the case.
In the case, Mr Adegboruwa, had sought to stop the Senate from proceeding with the confirmation of Magu as the EfCC chairman, based upon his alleged corrupt practices and lavish lifestyle.
The Nigerian Senate had refused to grant confirmation to the nomination of Ibrahim Magu as Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Explaining the reason behind the decision, the Senate said that security report available to it showed that Mr Magu is not fit to be chairman of the body.
In this regard, the lawmakers sent back his nomination letter to President Muhammadu Buhari.
But President Muhammadu Buhari appears to have re-nominated Ibrahim Magu to be confirmed by the Senate as the substantive chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC).
It was gathered that the President’s letter to that effect had been received by the Senate and may be read on the floor of the upper legislative chamber.
The federal lawmakers had in 2016 turned down the President’s request for the confirmation of Mr. Magu who is currently the acting chairman of the anti-corruption body.
They cited security report by the Department of Security Services (DSS) which the Senate claimed indicted Mr Magu.
The decision by the Senate had been a subject of controversy as former Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, had insisted that Mr Magu was not rejected by the lawmakers but his confirmation was only stepped down for further consultation with the Presidency.
The position was swiftly countered by Senate spokesman, Aliyu Abdullahi, who insisted that the acting EFCC boss had been rejected.
He insisted that the official position of the Senate remained that the lawmakers cannot confirm Mr Magu because of security reports which showed that he was not fit to be EFCC Chairman.
(The Sun)
