Court of Appeal in Abuja has ruled that Ibrahim Magu’s prolonged tenure as acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was unlawful, overturning a 2019 Federal High Court judgment that had upheld his continued stay in office.
Gatekeepers News reports that a three-member panel of the appellate court delivered the judgment on Monday in an appeal filed by Johnmary Jideobi, a lawyer who challenged Magu’s continued occupation of the EFCC chairman’s office after the Senate rejected his nomination as substantive chairman twice.
Jideobi had approached the Federal High Court in 2017, arguing that Magu could not remain indefinitely in an acting capacity after his nomination had been rejected by the Senate.
However, in a judgment delivered on December 4, 2019, Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu dismissed the challenge. The judge held that the EFCC Establishment Act did not prescribe a specific period for which an acting chairman could remain in office.
The Federal High Court had also held that Section 2(3) of the EFCC Act required the substantive appointment of the commission’s chairman to be confirmed by the Senate but did not impose a time limit on an acting appointment.
Dissatisfied with the decision, Jideobi appealed, arguing that the chairman of the EFCC has a four-year tenure, renewable once, and that Magu had exceeded the prescribed period without Senate confirmation.
He further argued that Magu’s acting appointment had ended by operation of law after the Senate rejected his nomination and urged the appellate court to set aside the Federal High Court’s judgment.
The Court of Appeal has now overturned the lower court’s decision and ruled that Magu’s prolonged stay as acting chairman was unlawful.
Magu served as acting EFCC chairman from 2015 until July 2020, when then-President Muhammadu Buhari suspended him following allegations of misconduct and irregularities. Magu denied the allegations and appeared before a presidential investigative panel headed by retired Justice Ayo Salami.
The latest judgment concerns the legality of Magu’s tenure during the period in which he served as acting chairman and does not affect the current leadership of the EFCC.
