A final push by the National Assembly to oust acting Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, has virtually been consummated with a bill to that effect already passed by the House of Representatives, pending concurrence by the Senate, this week.
Competent NASS sources said that the bill, which was passed by the House of Representatives, two weeks ago, deliberately jerked the qualification for the office of the Chairman of the anti-crime agency from Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), to Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG), ostensibly with the aim to replace Magu with a superior police officer before the 9th NASS takes off on June 11, 2019.
But Presidency sources has hinted that the President might not assent to the bill, even if the Senate concurred with the House of Representatives before the end of the current 8th NASS.
Magu, who was recently promoted to the rank of a Commissioner of Police, had had a running battle with the National Assembly having been rejected twice and re-presented same time by President Muhammadu Buhari for the same position.
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It was gathered that the bill was spearheaded by some arrowheads in the House immediately the Senate rejected Magu’s confirmation for the second time and the refusal of the Presidency to replace him as demanded by the lawmakers.
But it is not clear yet how the lawmakers hoped to get the bill passed and assented to by the President before the expiration of the 8th National Assembly.
Incidentally, the Senate has a few days to go as the lawmakers will only sit tomorrow.
The current National Assembly is expected to be dissolved on June 7, while the 9th NASS will be inaugurated on June 11.
Details of the new bill effectively seeks to amend certain sections of the EFCC Establishment Act of 2004 and raises the bar for the appointment of the head of the agency.
