I was misquoted — Magu react over statement on coronavirus

EFCC chairman, Ibrahim Magu 

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, says a section of the media has been trying to twist comment by acting Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, at the Passing Out Parade of its Detective Inspector Course 5 cadets.

The event was held at the Nigerian Defence Academy, NDA, in Kaduna on Tuesday, February 18, 2020.



Magu, during his speech at the event, clearly said: “I strongly believe, Your Excellency, that even coronavirus is caused by corruption”.Footage of the comment has been circulating on the internet has drawn criticism.

But on Sunday, EFCC spokesman, Tony Orilade, in a statement, insisted that Magu didn’t mean it that way.




He quoted Magu as saying: “Your Excellency, corruption is worse than cancer, Ebola-virus, Corona-virus and all other deadly diseases put together. Fighting corruption is thus a crusade against the evils of our society that are deeply-rooted and threatening to consume us.”

Orilade stated that the EFCC “is appalled by the fact that a section of the traditional and the New Media has been obsessed with a campaign to impugn and irritate the Commission’s boss.

“It should be noted that we have restrained ourselves from joining issues in a certain section of the media in the light of what Magu said on Corona-virus, but we are now constrained to issue this clarification because we least expect a medium like one of the national newspapers to join in the fray.”