Is Magu extending an olive branch on behalf of Buhari?

– President Muhammadu Buhari in Addis Ababa said the judiciary is his main headache

– EFCC chairman, Ibrahim Magu Yesterday, February 10 said the NBA need to colaborate with the commission in its fight against corruption

– Magu said some lawyers ought not to be among the noble ranks of the NBA

EFCC’s acting chairman, Ibrahim Magu

The acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu on Wednesday, February 10, met with executives of the Nigerian Bar Association in his office in Abuja.

During the meeting, Magu spoke on critical issues affecting the war against corruption by the present administration.

He also advised the NBA and Nigerian lawyers on how they could synergize with the commission to actualize President Muhammadu Buhari’s mandate of “Killing corruption in Nigeria”.

Magu’s meeting with the lawyers comes after the president in Addis Ababa, Ethopia said that Nigeria’s judiciary is his major problem in the anti-graft war.

He also said that corruption which has engulfed the country’s judiciary stalled his presidential ambition over the past years.

But in a reprisal, prominent members of the judiciary has said that the president is intent on intimidating the judicial system of the country.

The president of the NBA, Augustine Alageh had said that: “The NBA condemns in its entirety the generalisation and/or categorisation of the Judiciary as being corrupt and an impediment to the zero corruption policy of the present administration.”

READ ALSO: 5 reasons why Nigerian civil servants can no longer go on foreign trips

But in what appears to be an extension of an olive branch, the EFCC has urged the NBA and Nigerian lawyers to collaborate with the commission in its fight against corruption.

Below are eight key statements made by the EFCC chairman during the meeting with NBA executives:

1. I would discharge my duties as the head of the EFCC, guided solely by the fear of Almighty God, the overriding interest of our fatherland, Nigeria and the Rule of Law.

2. In the history of our country, there has never been a more destructive force than corruption and the war that we have been recruited to fight, is not one for the faint at heart nor is it a war of half-measures.

3. There are positions being pushed by some members of your association that the fight against corruption is one sided and biased and therefore not fair, but you and I know this is not a balanced argument. We all know that crimes have no political affiliation. And the victims of crimes such as money laundering, embezzlement, diversion of funds and fraud are the ordinary Nigerians and even you and me.

4. Furthermore, is it a defence in law to say that one individual indicted of any of these crimes should not be prosecuted because another individual who is perceived to be corrupt has not yet been prosecuted? As officers in the temple of justice I enjoin you all to join in the campaign against corruption.

5. Notwithstanding our hard-won successes, we are very worried that on a number of occasions, some members of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), have elected to side with those who do not want the good of Nigeria.  I believe it is part of the professional ethical code of lawyers to ask questions as to the source of their clients’ wealth.

6. But, we must tell ourselves the truth: there are lawyers within the fold of the NBA who ought not to be among your noble ranks.  Those people are not fit to be called ministers, rather, they are vandals of the temple of justice.

7. As a Commission, EFCC has the greatest respect for members of the Bar and Bench and regard the NBA highly for all the sacrifices of its members, both living and dead, who through professional practice of the highest standards and dogged, focused advocacy, have helped in the achievements we celebrate today not just in the EFCC, but in Nigeria as a whole.

8. The burden of expectation is not only on the shoulders of those of us at the EFCC; Nigerians expect so much from you as well.

The post Is Magu extending an olive branch on behalf of Buhari? appeared first on Nigeria News today & Breaking news | Read on NAIJ.COM.