OYOGist.com has learned that Femi Adesina, the spokesman to the President has allegedly said that the invitation of Ibrahim Magu, the suspended acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to appear before a presidential committee was in his best interest.
While Speaking on Wednesday featuring on Politics Today, a program on Channels Television, Adesina said President Muhammadu Buhari deserves to be hailed over his action on Magu.
“If anything illegal has been done, there are ways to redress it. But I think the best approach to satisfy everyone including Mr. Magu is for the panel to have invited Mr. Magu to hear his side of the story,” Adesina said.
“I can tell you categorically that before this issue became a public thing, the panel had been sitting for weeks and when the panel organized some grounds for Mr. Magu to be invited, the president then gave authorization for him to be invited and he was invited and he came.
“What the federal government has done so far is the right thing to be done according to the law, justice, fairness, and all that is right.
“We don’t need to worry ourselves about the anti-corruption war. In fact, what is happening now, would rather enhance and strengthen the anti-corruption war. Instead of some people trying to criticize the anti-corruption war, they should rather praise the president for taking an approach that the person who is like the hindering the anti-corruption war is being asked to answer questions. It just shows that anybody can be called to answer questions; nobody is above the law.”
On Mr. Magu’s release, he said he got the information on the development around the time it was in the news as he had been at the federal executive council (FEC) meeting which took place between 10 am and 6:02 pm.
“In the investigation of the extent that we have seen so far, it is required that whoever is the chief executive of that commission will need to step aside. There is no conclusion yet. He will just have to step aside in order to allow smooth investigation,” he said.
“It’s just an investigation, not a trial. If a trial needs to come later, it would come. But we are not at the trial stage now. We are just at the stage of finding the facts. He has just been asked to defend himself, and nothing more for now.
“Mr. Magu isn’t under trial, at least for now, because what lawyers call a prima facie case has never been built against him. He is only going through investigations. So, it is part of the requirements for the anti-corruption war rather than something that would decrease the effect and impact of that war.
So, the invitation of Magu to appear before the presidential panel is in his best interest. That is considered to be the best option for now. The sole aim is to allow him to defend himself to view his own part of the story, and never to prosecute him.
