The cold war between the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami (SAN) and the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu is about to consume the latter as the AGF has set in motion a plot that may effectively neutralize the EFCC Chairman and ultimately make him answerable to his office.
Malami on Tuesday said plans have been perfected to set up a Centre for Criminal Prosecutions in the country by October. He explained that the body will serve as a coordinating Unit for all Federal Government criminal justice agencies.
The Minister who stated this yesterday in Abuja while presenting the Ministry's report for the 2016/2017 legal year said the move became imperative due to apparent lack of effective cooperation and collaboration among the criminal justice and security agencies.
Apart from coordinating criminal cases, the body according to the Minister will also enable his office to have first hand information on the status of all cases and investigations in the country. He listed other benefits of the unit to include:
• Promote and enhance quick and easy coordination of all federal criminal cases within the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
• To enable the Office of the HAGF to checkmate abuse and or proliferation of criminal cases in Nigeria and
• To facilitate centralization and easy access to information for a robust and effective criminal justice system in Nigeria.
The Minister added that the unit shall also coordinate and form part of every investigation in Nigeria for a robust investigation and successful prosecution of such cases.
Recall that recently, the Minister accused Magu of attempting to frustrate the prosecution of high profile suspected corrupt government officials by withholding their investigation files and working against the lifting of Nigerian's suspension by the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units. He claimed that Magu's actions and inactions were responsible for the avoidable loses of corruption cases in court.
Although Magu had claimed that there was no disagreement between him and the AGF, on Monday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed confirmed the clash of interest and assured that the President was investigating the matter.
Ostensibly, the Unit when created would compel Magu to submit all investigation reports to the office of the AGF for prosecution. Also, the Commission shall also be made to co-opt members of the unit in its investigation operations.
