In normal times, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, a Commissioner of Police and former acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, should be looking forward to May 5, 2022, when he formally retires from the Nigeria Police Force after attaining the age of 60 with great expectation.
But these are not normal times for the former EFCC boss who was unceremoniously removed from office following some yet-to-be-disclosed misdemeanor.
He may retire from service without his retirement benefits.
A report said that Magu had forwarded his retirement notice to the police authorities in preparation for leaving the service.
But the Police Service Commission, PSC, said the former EFCC boss may not get his retirement benefits until he is cleared of all allegations of graft and insubordination levelled against him by the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mallam Abubakar Malami, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN.
The Punch newspaper quoted the Commissioner representing the media in the PSC, Mr. Austin Braimoh, as saying that the commission would not process Magu’s retirement benefits until the case against him had been resolved.
Magu’s troubles began very earlyin his tenure as the EFCC boss as the Senate, under Senator Bukola Saraki, refused to confirm his nomination by President Muhammadu Buhari following damning reports against him by the Department of State Services, DSS. Among others, Magu was accused of using a pastor to re-loot funds recovered by the anti-graft agency.
This prompted the President to set up the Justice Ayo Salami to scrutinize the various allegations levelled against Magu.
But the panel had not submitted its report to the President Malami recommended Magu’s sack over acts of misconduct, including alleged diversion of recovered loot.
Magu’s tenure as acting chairman of the EFCC ended effectively in February 2021, when President Buhari nominated Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa for Senate confirmation as Magu’s replacement.
Magu enlisted into the Nigeria Police Force as Cadet Assistant Superintendent of Police on March 3, 1990, and was promoted to the rank of Commissioner of Police on April 18, 2018.
He was suspended from office on July 10, 2020, and consequently made to face the Justice Ayo Salami-panel.
The probe report, which was submitted to the President in November 2020, allegedly indicted Magu and recommended his prosecution for corruption and abuse of office. But the probe report is yet to be made public. And Magu was never assigned any other responsibility. Even the PSC declined his elevation to the post of Assistant Inspector-General of Police last July.
In another breathe, Braimoh said the PSC was not aware of Magu’s retirement, adding the report of the panel had not been presented to the commission.
“The issue of Magu is not before the Police Service Commission that he has been indicted or cleared,” he told The Punch. “He will forward the retirement papers to the commission if he is retiring. We have to inquire whether he has been cleared of the allegations against him.
“If he has not been cleared, we cannot process his retirement papers. Still, he would retire and be waiting until we get clearance from the office of the IGP. If he is not cleared, his retirement benefits cannot be processed, but he would retire.”
The PSC commissioner cited the examples of two senior police officers whose benefits have not been paid for over two years since they retired from the service.
He added, “I don’t want to mention the names of two senior officers who retired over two years ago but their documents were not processed over one infringement or the other that has not been cleared. If the PSC does not process the retirement documents of any officer, he cannot enjoy his retirement benefits and he cannot be said to have retired.
“I’m not aware if the force secretary has sent his retirement papers to the commission. Unless his documents are sent to us, we cannot even engineer an inquiry to the IG. We can query the IG’s office to give us his documents, but if there is something before us.”
