by Azeez Adeniyi

Former Senate Majority leader, Ali Ndume has said Bukola Saraki shouldn’t be the Senate President if the upper chamber fails to confirm Ibrahim Magu as Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The Senate had rejected Magu’s nomination after the DSS in a letter said he was unfit to lead the EFCC.

Ndume while speaking on Channels TV on Thursday said everyone has once been accused including him.

“We have all been accused, I have been accused of sponsoring Boko Haram, the senate president is still going to court,” Ndume said.

“Same as other members who have cases in court, yet they occupy seats in the senate. So, if you say because of the allegations he (Magu) should not be confirmed, then I should not be a sitting senator and Saraki should not be there as senate president.”

He added that he was not surprised that President Muhammadu Buhari failed to raise Magu’s rejection during a meeting with Dogara and Saraki a day after.

“The president I know is not the kind of person that would interfere in such matters. I would have been surprised if the president discussed the issue of confirmation when he met the leaders of the national assembly recently, that would have led to the issue of lobbying for him to be confirmed,” he said.

“There is no crime against lobbying, in fact we are supposed to lobby. I lobbied most of the senators but sometimes you keep on learning because this is kind of new. A government where you (APC) are in the majority and the president re-nominates a candidate, and also in a situation where the issue at stake is an accusation; in the normal circumstance and by our constitution, accusation is not conviction.

“The issue now is not the house in his name, it’s a house called the safe house and that was prompted because after his acting appointment and the rigorous work he is doing, you can’t afford to have somebody like that living in Karu or a densely populated area.”

Ndume added that Magu has been doing his job perfectly.

He said, “The bottom line is that we are trying to fight against corruption and if we ask: ‘is Magu doing his job?’, the answer is yes, undoubtedly. He is not an actor, he is a policeman doing investigation. He is not supposed to talk about what his job is in an articulate manner, it’s not important. What he is doing is not a TV show.”

Azeez