President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Attorney General of the Federation to conduct investigations into allegations of fraud and corruption made against the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. David Lawal Babachir, Chief of Staff to the President, Mr. Abba Kyari and other top officials of his administration, including the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Magu.
The President’s spokesman, Garba Shehu in a statement on Sunday said, “President Buhari will wage a relentless war against corruption…” “If any of them are liable they will not escape prosecution.”
The Senate had urged the President to fire the SGF after it approved a report of its committee that investigated how funds for the rehabilitation of the Boko-Haram ravaged North East was utilized. The SGF was alleged to have received at least N200 million naira in bribes from one of the contractors that was awarded an inflated contract to clear weed from one of the states in the zone.
The President’s Chief of Staff was also alleged to have received millions of naira in bribes from MTN during negotiations after the telecommunications giant was fined over $5 billion USD for a security breach.
The EFCC boss, Magu had his confirmation as substantive chairman of the agency turned down by the Senate last week based on a security report by the DSS which made damaging allegation of graft against him.
“The attention of the presidency has been drawn to a number of reports in the media, in which various accusations of corruption have been levelled against some top officials in the administration.
In that regard, President Buhari has instructed the Attorney General of the Federation to investigate the involvement of any top government officials accused of any wrong-doing. If any of them are liable they will not escape prosecution.”