Former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has said the suspended acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, took the refusal of the Senate to confirm him personal.
Saraki revealed this in a reaction to a court order on Thursday, which directed the federal government to return his houses in Kwara State to him.
The court had granted an interim order of forfeiture following an application by the EFCC.
The 8th Senate led by Saraki rejected Magu’s nomination twice, based on a security report by the Department of State Services (DSS).
Magu is now being investigated for allegedly mismanaging recovered funds from looters by the anti-graft agency.
In a statement, Saraki said: “Today, as always, I thank Almighty Allah as I welcome the judgement of the Federal High Court, Lagos, by the Honorable Justice Rilwan M. Aikawa in which the court dismissed in its totality the application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for a forfeiture order on my home in Ilorin, Kwara state.
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“I am particularly happy that the court specifically ruled that there was no evidence that the property was built with any illicit or stolen funds from the Kwara state government or any other institution or quarter, whatsoever.
“The last five years have been very challenging for me and my family. I have endured and defeated one false allegation and malicious litigation after another, in an ill-motivated persecution, intimidation and harassment, through which some vested interests sought to damage my name and label me with charges of corruption but with the grace of Allah, I have always been victorious.
“I thank God for the outcome of this case which is the fifth victory in cases in which the EFCC was either the main investigating agency or the plaintiff.
“It is obvious that the EFCC leadership under its erstwhile acting chair, Mr. Ibrahim Mustapha Magu decided to take the issue of his non-confirmation by the 8th Senate which I led, personally.
“However, I know that the Senate under my leadership only followed the due and normal procedure during the confirmation process, and we never executed any personal agenda against Magu. The records of the Senate during the period are there for the perusal of all Nigerians interested in the truth.”
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