Re: Magu and Daura as signifiers that presidential authority has crumbled

The above-mentioned piece, by Dr Jibrin Ibrahim, appeared in the Friday Column of Daily Trust on March 17, 2017. As usual, with the columnists of Daily Trust, there is always something positive to take away. Specifically, in paragraph 4, Dr Ibrahim asserted that “authority is about the power to make decisions, to give directives and […]

The above-mentioned piece, by Dr Jibrin Ibrahim, appeared in the Friday
Column of Daily Trust on March 17, 2017. As usual, with the columnists of Daily Trust, there is always something positive to take away. Specifically, in paragraph 4, Dr Ibrahim asserted that “authority is about the power to make decisions, to give directives and to enforce compliance to the said directives and decisions”. This is a nugget for students of political science, management and related courses in our universities. I give kudos to Daily Trust and its columnists for educating and entertaining us.
Furthermore, I agree with Dr Ibrahim that “Magu is doing a great job in investigating and prosecuting corrupt officials”. However, there are issues, I believe, the learned columnist got wrong. For example, the issue of inter-agency rivalry in the security sector is not confined to Nigeria. 
So, writing a negative report on Mr Magu by Department of State Services
(DSS) is neither here nor there. Because, as an agency of government, it has the right to look at security issues from its own canalized perspective. But the social, political, economic and other ramifications may not be in the overall national interest.
What is worrisome in the whole saga is that despite the fact that Mr Magu is performing his job in superlatives the senate latches on the report by only one agency to take its “pervasive” decision. According to reports, the Attorney General of the federation had cleared Mr Magu of any wrongdoing before his recent rejection by the senate. The irony of the whole matter is that the Attorney General (AG) is a cabinet minister and, above all, was screened and confirmed by the same upper chamber. Sadly, the senators chose to base their rejection of Magu on the DSS report while disregarding that of the AG. Paradoxically, the senators have no constitutional role in the confirmation of the DSS chief.
There is a legal diction that says “audi alterem partem” – hear the other side. Where are the lawyers in the senate? I believe the clearance of Mr
Magu of any malfeasance by the country’s number one legal officer should take precedence over the DSS.
Nigerians are watching. Posterity and history and Allah (SWT) are there to judge the present crop of senators. They should join hands with President Muhammadu Buhari to fight corruption and give all the necessary support to one of the cash cow of the nation – the Customs and “Exercise” (oops! Excise). I hope Senator George Sekibo is reading this. Please confirm Mr. Magu and stop insisting that Baba Hameed Ali must wear customs uniform.
Khalifa Musa Muhammad, Kaduna