ICPC: WHY ANGULU WAS SACKED - FG

The Federal Government on Wednesday explained that Dr. Uriah Angulu was sacked as the acting chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) because he did not possess the requisite qualifications as stipulated in section 3 (4) of the Act establishing the commission.

In addition, the government said Angulu was not asked to proceed on terminal leave, as reported by a national daily, but 'was simply asked to hand over to AIG Abang Rosemary Wushishi as the acting chairman, pending appointment of a substantive chairman for the ICPC.'

Angulu was on Tuesday sacked as the acting chairman of the ICPC by the Federal Government and replaced with AIG Abang Rosemary Wushishi (retd). In a letter addressed to him, dated March 18, 2011, and signed by the Permanent Secretary and Solicitor General of the Federation, Alhaji Abdullah Yola, on behalf of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), the government said his removal was with immediate effect.

The statement further added that  Dr. Angulu was replaced with the Wushishi, who was to perform in acting capacity, pending the appointment of a substantive Chairman. The statement directed Angulu to hand over to the new acting chairman with immediate effect. The only reason given for his removal was that it ' was in compliance with the provision of section 3(4) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offence Act, CAP. C31, LFN 2004, which states that the chairman shall be a person who has held or is qualified to hold office as a judge of a superior court of record in Nigeria.'

The explanation by the Federal Government was necessitated by a newspaper report (not Daily Sun) that Angulu's removal was motivated by the 'on-going probe of a N6 billion fraud at the National Judicial  Institute (NJI) and the trial of a sitting minister. In a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Attorney General of the Federation and Justice Minister, Mr. Ambrose Momoh, the Federal Government attributed the removal to the lack of requisite qualification by Dr. Angulu.

The statement, which described the media report as a figment of the repoter's immagination, read in part: 'For avoidance of doubt, AIG Abang Rosemary Wushishi's appointment was made in compliance with the provisions of section 3 (4) of the Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Act, CAP. C31, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) 2004, which states that the 'chairman shall be a person who has held or is qualified to hold office as a Judge of a superior court of record in Nigeria.'

'Since this requirement also applies to appointments made in an acting capacity, it was necessary to guard against any likely challenge of the powers exercised by Dr. Uriah Anglu who did not possess the requisite qualification.' 'We wish to state that the personal commitment of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to the war against corruption is not in doubt as he has time and again demonstrated this in his actions in office. He will, therefore, not be deterred by baseless allegations and insinuations designed to achieve pre-conceived ends.'