The Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu has said he was not worried by the refusal of the Senate to confirm him as substantive head of the anti-graft agency.
He made this known while appearing before Justice Doris Okuwobi of the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja to testify in a libel suit he filed against The Sun Newspapers.
Magu had claimed that the paper published a series of “false and injurious” stories about him, including a March 25, 2017 story in which the paper claimed that two houses had been traced to his wife, a civil servant, and that he was being secretly investigated by the Department of State Services (DSS).
Magu claimed to only have one house in Abuja, in the Karo area, and that he was not being investigated by any agency or body.
While under cross-examination by the respondent’s counsel, Charles Enwelunta, Magu said he was not worried about his non-confirmation because he might not be as effective as he presently is if the senate had confirmed him.
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.”
Magu is praying the court to award him N5 billion in damages and to compel the paper to publish a retraction, noting that he never purchased two houses in the highbrow Maitama area of Abuja as claimed by the paper.
The EFCC boss said, “Since I came to the EFCC, nobody has investigated me. I am not under any probe, the publication is totally false. Even if I have the money, I wouldn’t buy houses in Maitama.
“My wife is a civil servant. We only have one house sold to us in Karo, Abuja. The publication is completely untrue.
“I want to tell you the damage it has done to me. It was not done to me alone, it has gone down my lineage, the entire family, and it has done so much wrong. It has done so much damage.”
The presiding judge adjourned the matter till February 28, 2019 for further proceedings.
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