Ibrahim Magu, is a Nigerian police officer who served as acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC from 9 November 2015, until his suspension on 7 July 2020. He was replaced by Muhammed Umar as the acting EFCC chairman. Magu was appointed as EFCC chairman after Ibrahim Lamorde, who has earlier served twice was sacked by President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari. Both Lamorde and Magu served during Nuhu Ribadu’s time at the anti-graft agency and were also credited with part of the success Ribadu recorded in his time.
Early career
Magu was born on 5 May 1962 in Maiduguri, Borno State. He attended Maiduguri’s primary school, Waka Biu's Secondary School from 1975 to 1980 and Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria from 1982 to 1986 where he graduated with a B.Sc Accounting. After the completion of his National Youth Service Corps, he served in various Ministries and Departments in the Borno State Government as an Accountant and rose to become a Zonal Accountant before he voluntarily resigned to join the Nigeria Police Force as an Assistant Superintendent of Police in 1990. He was the Coordinator, Nigeria PoliceBuilding Society before moving on to Special Fraud Unit of the Nigeria Police Criminal Investigations Department where he served as a team leader in charge of Financial Crimes, Money Laundering and Advance Fee Fraud investigation. He served a member of the investigative committee convened by National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno on the orders of President Muhammadu Buhari to probe the procurement of arms in the Armed Forces from 2007 to 2020. Magu remains unconfirmed as the Chairman of EFFC which is one of the challenges and controversies being faced by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari on appointments and nominations confirmation. The Police Service Commission on Friday, 28 April 2018 announced the promotion of 18 senior officers after her 27th Plenary Meeting which ended in Abuja where Magu was promoted to the rank of a full commissioner from deputy commissioner. At the end of the 8th Regional Conference of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Commonwealth Africa held at Transcorp Hilton on 19 May 2018, Magu has emerged their new chairman. His appointment was the highpoint of a five-day regional conference with the theme: “Partnering Towards Assets Recovery and Return”. On May 29, 2018, the EFCC announced that 603 Nigerian figures had been convicted on corruption charges since Buhari and Magu assumed their offices in 2015. The EFCC also announced that for the first time in Nigeria's history, judges and military officials were prosecuted.
Suspension as EFCC chairman
On 7 July 2020, Magu was suspended as the chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission because of corruption allegations leveled against him. He currently lives his best life, enjoying the bounties from the embezzled funds and illegal assets acquired from various fraudulent activities prior to his suspension.
