Senate Rejects Magu For EFCC Job …Swears-In Sekibo, Others

The Senate, yesterday, rejected the confirmation of Mr Ibrahim Magu as the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The Senate said security reports about the person of Magu was not favourable for his clearance for the anti-graft agency’s top job and asked President Muhammadu Buhari, who nominated him to immediately replace him.
But the Red Chamber gave its approval for the nomination of other four members of the board of the commission, whose names were sent along side Magu’s.
The position of the Upper Chamber was read to newsmen in a prepared text, by its spokesman, Aliyu Sabi, after its closed-door session, which lasted about three hours.
Even as it gave its nod to the nomination of the four other members of the EFCC job, the Red Chamber did not state when it would screen them.
Meanwhile, the Senate, yesterday, swore in the three senators who were declared winners in last Saturday’s National Assembly rerun election in Rivers State, by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The senators are George Thompson Sekibo (PDP-Rivers East), Osinachukwu Ideozu (PDP-Rivers West), Magnus Ngei Abe (APC-Rivers South-East), respectively.
Though they were voted on different political platforms, they came into the Red Chambers the same time, bantering with their colleagues.
Senate President, Bukola Saraki, who performed the brief swearing-in ceremony of the senators, congratulated the trio on their victories, just as he charged them to perform their legislative assignments to the expectations of their constituents, who he noted, reposed confidence on them.
The senators took their oaths of office at exactly 2.14pm as senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Shortly after the development, the Senate announced that it had adjourned plenary to January 10, 2017.
Meanwhile, Senator George Sekibo, has lauded the Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike and the entire people of Rivers East Senatorial District for the confidence reposed in him, and reaffirming the mandate given to him in the 2015 elections.
In a statement, signed on December 12, and issued in Port Harcourt, yesterday, Sekibo said, “The victory was made possible by the massive support and determination of the good people of Rivers East to defend their votes even in the face of unprecedented violence and palpable threat to their lives”.
According to him, “The electorate have demonstrated that power truly belongs to the people; and that they will always defend the mandate they have freely given to me. I am very grateful.
“I sincerely thank all those who stood by me in this unwarranted and prolonged wait for the final results. I especially thank our youth, women, traditional rulers and political leaders, particularly the state Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, for his courageous leadership.
“I wish, however, to express my sympathy to the victims of electoral violence perpetrated by undemocratic elements, and pray that we shall not have any cause to walk this path of brigandage and impunity in our democratic process, a second time.”
It would be recalled that Senator George Sekibo had scored 93,098 votes to defeat his closest rival, Hon Andrew Uchendu, of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who garnered 34, 193 votes in the last Saturday’s rerun legislative elections in Rivers State.

Susan Serekara-Nwikhana