Malami: No rift with Magu; we will never disobey constituted authority, says EFCC

Justice Minister and Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr Abubakar Malami (SAN), has said there is no rift  between his office and that of the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Magu.
Malami made the clarification on the relationship on Thursday in Abuja while reacting to a question as to whether a letter he wrote to the commission concerning prosecution of high profile cases was causing a rift between both offices.
“There is no rift”, Malami said.
Meanwhile the EFCC said it would never disobey constituted authority.
The anti-corruption agency said the story in the public that it is fighting the office of the Justice Minister is a figment of the imagination of rumour mongers.
Its spokesman, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, said the reports emanated from the imaginations of “corrupt elements, angling to knock heads together in furtherance of their own pro-corruption agenda.’’
“For the avoidance of any doubt, the EFCC wishes to categorically state that it is compliant with all provisions of law, and has no intention to stoke misunderstanding over requests from the office of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice.
“Furthermore, the commission’s mandate, operational philosophy, the conduct and pronouncements of its officials, do not countenance any activity on the fringes of the law.
“It is, therefore, untenable for there to be any suggestion that the EFCC or the commission’s principal officials are either in conflict with or readying for  “showdown” with the AGF or other officials of government.
“Any such conflicts being paraded in the media exist only in the apparently fertile imaginations of corrupt elements, angling to knock heads together in furtherance of their own pro-corruption agenda.
“All the brouhaha raised in recent days over a non-existent conflict between the EFCC and the office of the AGF, only go to underline the fact that corruption can, and is fighting back, in a variety of ways.’’
Uwujaren emphasised that the EFCC, as agency set up by law, could never breach the law of the land or disobey constituted authority.