Nigerian Presidency Summons Anti-Graft Chief Over Asset Sales

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Nigeria’s presidency summoned the head of the nation’s anti-corruption body to discuss the sale of seized assets.

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission acting Chairman Ibrahim Magu attended the meeting after receiving an invitation from a presidential panel while en route to another meeting, the agency said Monday in an emailed statement. It denied a report by the online newspaper The Cable that Magu had been arrested.

“The EFCC’s boss was neither arrested nor forced to honor the invitation,” it said. “A member of a legal team from the EFCC is also with him on the panel.”

Presidency spokesman Garba Shehu said Magu was summoned to discuss the anti-graft agency’s sale of recovered assets.

“I will not call it to arrest per se,” Shehu said by phone, adding that the panel is a newly established investigative unit within the presidency. “They need him to be immediately available to them so that he can respond to issues as they arise.”

Magu has been the acting chairman of the EFCC since President Muhammadu Buhari was first elected to power in 2015. Lawmakers have refused to confirm Magu’s appointment, citing a report by the Department of State Services accusing him of wrongdoing. Magu has denied the allegations.

Source: Bloomberg Business News