We were told repeated­ly during and after the 2015 general elections in Nigeria that Nigeria will have to kill corruption or corruption will kill Nigeria. Another thing we were told is that when you fight corruption, corruption will fight back. What nobody told us how­ever is how ferocious and auda­cious the fightback would be. And we were, to a large extent, mistak­en as to the quarters the fight back would come from.

President Muhammadu Buha­ri was elected by Nigerians prin­cipally because of his anti- corrup­tion stance. He had campaigned on a promise to rid Nigeria of in­security and corruption and re­vamp the economy. Nigerians be­lieved him on account of his track record of integrity. Since assump­tion of office, president Buhari has largely remained true to his prom­ises regarding the war on corrup­tion. Replacing an inept Ibrahim Larmode with a battle-tested and no- nonsense gentleman in the per­son of Ibrahim Magu as head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was a point­er to the president’s resolve to re­vive the fortunes of the then coma­tose EFCC and give more bite to the anti- corruption fight.

Ibrahim Magu, a seasoned po­lice officer, had previously served as the head of the EFCC ‘s Econom­ic Governance Unit during the chairmanship of Nuhu Ribadu. A trained financial crimes investiga­tor with a background in forensic accounting, Magu led many high profile investigations against former governors including James Ibori of Delta state , Sam Egwu of Ebonyi state, and Bukola Saraki of Kwara state who is currently the Senate president. It is no surprise then that Ibrahim Magu had stepped on many toes and comes with a high reputation. He is fearless and, like the man who appointed him, incor­ruptible. As expected (and feared), Ibrahim Magu has gone about his duties with aplomb and gusto. He has hauled many, hitherto consid­ered untouchables, before courts of justice, recovered from them mon­ies and properties suspected to have been stolen from government cof­fers and, sent many to jail all across the country. In fact, Magu has since become the face and symbol of the anti- corruption war as envisioned by the president. And this is not without some personal perils. Cor­ruption has indeed waged an unre­lenting fightback that almost swept Magu out of office but for the pres­ident’s belief and trust in the man’s abilities and integrity. Spurious al­legations of flawed integrity said to have emanated from the Directo­rate of State Service, DSS, were used to deny him Senate confirmation twice. EFCC’s efforts at demand­ing accountability from past office holders have been written off as one sided and lopsided against the op­position Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. There have also been rumours of EFCC staff acquiring and own­ing vast array of properties all over the country that is way beyond their legitimate earnings. All these just to discredit the man Magu and the agency he heads and by extension, the very war he is waging against corruption.

The most audacious counter punch of corruption has, unfor­tunately, come from the most un­likely of places, the National As­sembly. The Nigerian Senate, the highest law making organ in the country, which should have been the bedrock of support for the an­ti-corruption fight, has wittingly become a barrier to the anti- cor­ruption campaign. This is surpris­ing yet not completely unexpected considering that the upper cham­ber of the national assembly is home to a sizeable number of for­mer state governors presently being investigated or prosecuted by the EFCC for fraud and money laun­dering. The Senate had on two oc­casions, refused to confirm Ibrahim Magu as the substantive chairman of the EFCC and have called on the president to name another nomi­nee in his place. The Senate presi­dent had cast his trial at the tribu­nal (CCT) as a witch-hunt by his enemies within the APC, the rul­ing party at the centre. The CCT has however discharged and ac­quitted him of the charges. He sees Magu as a willing instrument be­ing used against him as a backlash for being elected as Senate presi­dent against the wishes of the par­ty apparatchiks. And he has had the support of his former governor colleagues who feel threatened by the relentless and fearless Ibrahim Magu. Senators Sam Egwu, Theo­dore Orji, Godswill Akpabio, Josh­ua Dariye and Rabiu Musa Kwank­waso, all former governors under EFCC investigation, would rath­er that the anti- graft agency does not exist, or have the war against corruption waged on their own terms. Certainly this is not what you would expect from an Assem­bly dominated by members of the ruling party which has made the fight against corruption its signa­ture programme. Senator Dino Melaye, a Saraki acolyte, and a one time anti-corruption crusader, is up there among those who have sworn to scuttle president Buhari’s war against corruption. It is hard to determine whose music he is danc­ing to. His recent public offering in the form of a book, (Antidotes For Corruption) is not only ironic but clearly an audacious fight back on the part of corruption.

The bonds of corruption are tru­ly ill to loose. The judiciary howev­er, must contribute more in this re­gard or itself be forcibly prised from the seeming grip of corruption.

Prince Onu is a public affairs commentator