Magu’s Trial: Averting a Perilous Precedent

By Festus Ogun

The travails of Mr. Ibrahim Magu, the recently suspended Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), have brought forth an opportunity for all well-meaning Nigerians to reflect on the reality of President Muhammadu Buhari’s fight against corruption and the need to quickly disembark on a journey to nowhere.

To see a prominent leading figure in the war against corruption to get enmeshed in the whirlwind of corruption allegation has incontrovertibly dealt a huge blow on the very war itself.  Indeed, the ‘weighty allegations’ of massive corruption levelled against Magu are too conspicuous to be ignored; not even for an anti-graft czar who should ordinarily live to the expectation, if not beyond, of the sensitive position he held. As a Nigerian, I was brutally embarrassed with the way and manner the whole imbroglio was orchestrated. Hence, this intervention.

Interestingly, the Federal Government in her wisdom said the crackdown on Magu is a reminder that nobody is above the law and that even the hunter may be hunted by Lady Justicia whose eyes are blindfolded against the prejudice of anyone, bearing in her hands a two edged sharp sword. That defence was expected but Nigerians seem to know much better that Magu is yet another victim of power play amidst the President’s political circus just like a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) posited.

For a fact, the Presidency has a case to answer in all of this. Recall that Magu was the Acting Chairman of the EFCC for over five years despite the fact that his nomination was rejected by the Senate on two different occasions based on damning reports by the State Security Service (SSS) casting aspersion on his person on account of corruption allegations and moral integrity tests. The President, against the law of the land, ignored the clear warnings of the Senate whose constitutional duty is to confirm or reject appointments based on public interest grounds and went ahead to retain Magu as Acting Chair. To arbitrarily keep an appointee, who is required by law to be screened and confirmed by the Senate, in office for that long is an infraction on the Constitution and undermines the overall essence of legislative oversight in a constitutional democracy.

The sanctimonious disposition of the Federal Government in absolving itself from the murky waters is at best dishonest. The Presidency appears like the proverbial child who goes to the river to swim and later turn around to complain of the sensation of cold. If despite the grievous reports by the SSS and the rejection by the Senate on grounds of corruption allegation, the Presidency still went ahead to retain Magu, it lacks the moral authority to now disown its once-upon-a-time favourite. That will be unfair, hypocritical and reprehensible. The Presidency should refrain from acting as though it is holier than thou when it was through its (abuse of) power that Magu remained in that office. If the Presidency had listened to the voice of reason and respected the rule of law, the mess of today would have been easily avoided. Passing all the bucks on Magu will be playing on the intelligence of unsuspecting Nigerians – the blames should be fairly shared in love.

Ibrahim Magu was kept in detention for ten good days. This is clearly illegal, unconstitutional and a gross disrespect to the rule of law. To be clear, the Presidency is not empowered by law to detain anyone for any reason whatsoever. Equally, the police lacks the power to arbitrarily keep a suspect in detention for over 48 hours without trial. The arbitrary nature in which the whole tragedy was handled reminded many of how the EFCC under Magu’s watch arrested and detained many without trial; giving no recourse to the rule of law. Left for the media, Magu, who is presumed innocent under the law, should be regarded today as an “ex-convict” as there was a deliberate media trial launched at his person and calculated to achieve a purpose. Funnily enough, the Presidency deployed the same media trial script used by Magu during his days in office to roll out the melancholic drama.

For some Nigerians, Magu’s worrisome ordeal is a case of the chicken that has come home to roost. I absolutely agree that his case is similar to that of the proverbial man whose grave was dug with the shovel he once called spoon. Nonetheless, he should not be mocked, he deserves our pity. Indeed, our humanity diminishes the day we close our eyes to any form of evil irrespective of the personality of the victim. Our collective stance against injustice, arbitrariness and abuse of power should not be compromised by emotions as that would amount to sheer dissimulation.

In the final analysis, those who hold power today should be reminded of the vanity and transiency of power and the need to always respect the rule of law. The essence of the rule of law is to check the abuse of power, regardless of who is wielding the power. It is high time we took the bold step of building a strong institution that allows only for the law to rule as against the arbitrariness of the rule of man.

This precarious precedent could have been averted if the law was allowed to take its course, ab initio; as we are a risk unless we find the courage to always respect the law in the spirit of constitutionalism. The impunity culture of persecuting political adversaries in breach of the rule of law must be quickly averted as continuing with same will inevitably drag the nation to an imminent perfidy. Additionally, we must be aware that the institutionalization of media trial will do nothing other than diminishing the strength of our tottering democracy. It must be desisted from!

History beckons. Posterity matters.

Festus Ogun is a legal affairs analyst and human rights, activist. festusogunlaw@gmail.com