By Soni Daniel, Northern Region Editor

ABUJA— In a daring tone, the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, yesterday, stunned the nation with a declaration that senior lawyers in the country were hampering the fight against corruption.

Ibrahim Magu

That challenge notwithstanding,  Magu vowed to intensify the fight, defeat  corruption persons and recover Nigeria’s stolen funds from whoever is keeping them.

The chairman made the position known while speaking with a coalition of civil society groups, who visited him in his office, yesterday, as part of their sensitisation programme against corruption.

The chairman accused the top lawyers of assisting corrupt elements who had looted the nation’s treasury to fight the EFCC and escape punishment for their economic crimes.

The chairman also accused the lawyers of using journalists to write negative things against the commission all in a desperate bid to stall the trial and conviction of corrupt persons.

Magu said, however, that despite the legal prowess of the lawyers and those sponsoring them, the commission would never be afraid of taking on corrupt elements who had made life very difficult for ordinary Nigerians by looting the treasury and depriving the nation of the funds to carry out development projects for all.

He said he would only fear God and show utmost respect for the rule of law in the prosecution of the anti-graft war. Magu also said the commission would pursue nothing more than national interest in the fight against corruption.

He boasted that the war being waged by the commission against corrupt persons was powered by the power of God and that of the Nigerian people, who deserve better services being denied them by the corrupt few in the land.

The chairman said: “Apart from the fear of God, we have no other fear. Apart from the interest of Nigeria, we have no other interest. And apart from the Rule of Law, we have no other rule guiding the work we are doing today. The days of impunity are over.

“One of the big challenges we have in the effective prosecution of the war on corruption is that of very senior lawyers who Nigeria has been very kind to.

“When we have corruption cases, cases of people who have stolen food from the mouths of our children; when we have cases of people who have stolen money meant to build hospitals and buy drugs; when we have cases of people who have stolen all the money meant to buy guns for our soldiers to fight Boko Haram, when we have all these cases of wicked people who have stolen Nigeria’s money, they run to these same senior lawyers, give them part of the stolen money and mobilise them to fight us, to delay us in court and to deny Nigerians of justice. These are the people who do not want justice for the common man.

“The other day, 34 Senior Advocates of Nigeria fought against only one small EFCC lawyer in court and he defeated all of them. What we are doing today is not by our power, it is the power of the Nigerian people and the power of God behind us.

“Corrupt people hire journalists to abuse us every day; they say we are not doing the work according to the law. But, that is not true. There is no agency that follows the law more than EFCC. None.

“Before we arrest you or seize your property or do anything to you, we check the law; we go to court and get court order. That is why we are winning; that is why we are defeating them every day.”

He declared that the agency had recovered some stolen funds and would continue to pursue others to recover more for the nation to use for its development and pleaded with Nigerians to stand by the commission and President Muhammadu Buhari.