The Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami has accused the Acting EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Magu of misusing intelligence to the detriment of the anti-graft war. Malami suggests Magu has no respect for due process and separation of power.
Special adviser on media to the Minister of Justice, Sahilu Othman, said this in an opinion article on Wednesday. He wrote against the background of Nigeria’s suspension by the Egmont Group. The group, which comprises 156 financial intelligence units of 156 countries, is a body for the exchange of financial intelligence to fight money laundering and terrorism financing.
In July, it suspended Nigeria owing to the interference of the EFCC in the activities of the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit. A few days after the suspension, the senate passed the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit bill to make the unit independent of the EFCC.
In the article, Othman said the leadership of the EFCC “manipulated and misused intelligence to the detriment of the fight against corruption and financial crimes in Nigeria”. He added that to make the global financial intelligence body lift the ban on Nigeria, the government has set up the presidential adhoc committee to re-position the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit.
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