Forces Behind Corruption Are Stronger Than COVID-19 – Magu’s Lawyer

Oluwatoyin Ojaomo, the Counsel to the acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu, has described the forces behind corruption in the country as more powerful that Coronavirus.

This is coming a few hours after the EFCC boss was invited before a panel for questioning.

The Counsel to the EFCC acting chairman revealed this while speaking on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ programme on Monday in his reaction to the investigation of Magu by a Presidential panel.

Ojaomo noted that Magu is been investigated because of the recoveries he announced publicly and the funds remitted to the government’s coffers did not correspond.

According to him, the funds remitted by the anti-graft agency were more than the monies that were declared.

Ojaomo said, “When you are fighting corruption, the forces behind corruption are so powerful; they are more powerful than Covid-19. You can imagine what is happening. Instead of Magu to be celebrated, those powerful corrupt persons who have the media backing them are trying to call a dog a bad name so they can hang it.”

He further stated that asset recovery was a continuous process and as such there would always be discrepancies in figures.

Auwal Musa popularly known as Rafsanjani, while speaking on the development noted that Magu’s experience has again shown the need for a legal framework on asset recovery and management.

Rafsanjani, who is the Head, Transparency International, said if Magu is humiliated, it could also discourage those who are genuinely dedicated to the fight against corruption.

“I don’t think it is a good development for persons who are fighting corruption to be framed,” he said.

“Instead of looking at Magu, we should look at the legal and institutional deficits in the area of recovery,” he added