Lamorde Out! Buhari fires embattled EFCC chairman
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has fired the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Lamorde, reports say.
A presidential source said Lamorde was told his services were no longer required after meeting Buhari in Aso Rock on Monday.
The sacking ended Lamorde’s four years at the helms of the anti-graft agency.
Reports say a “top level official” of the Economic and Governance Unit of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, will now lead the body.
Magu returns to the EFCC after being “forced out” in 2008.
The reason Buhari sacked Lamorde, who led a seemingly rejuvenated EFCC since November 2011, remain speculative.
But Lamorde has been in the middle of allegations the EFCC, under his watch, could not account for at least N1 trillion worth of recovered loots.
The EFCC denied the allegations and seemed to claim that even if it “stole” all the money, it would not be up to a trillion naira as the numbers did not add up.
READ MORE: “Even if we ‘stole’ all the money, it won’t be up to N1trn,” EFCC suggests
Lamorde was seen at the Presidential Villa where reports say he held a last meeting with Buhari before being handed the sack.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan made Lamorde EFCC boss in 2011 after giving EFCC’s first ever female chairman, Farida Waziri, the boot.
Political pundits say Lamorde’s sack was a time bomb waiting to explode since Buhari, whom they say will bring “his own men” into power, was sworn in on May 29.
“Tough” things are already being said about new EFCC boss, Magu.
Magu is touted a no-nonsense EFCC “enforcer” at the inception of the anti-graft body.
But he was “kicked out” alongside other anti-graft officials when Waziri became chairman in 2008.
His return to the fold is being interpreted as another indicator of Buhari’s “allergy” to corruption.
