The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has told the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, to step down in light of a new controversy trailing him.

Media reports indicated that the EFCC boss was arrested by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) on Monday, July 6, 2020 to answer questions regarding some corruption allegations.

However, the DSS denied the reports, and the EFCC said that Magu was only served an impromptu invitation by a Presidential Panel that reviews the agency's activities.

Magu ended up before the panel at the Presidential Villa, who urgently demanded his presence, with a lawyer, according to the EFCC.

In a statement released later on Monday, the PDP said Magu should step down to prevent the destruction of potential evidence against him.

The party urged President Muhammadu Buhari to ask the 58-year-old to step down from the anti-graft agency to preserve the integrity of the office of EFCC chairman.

"Our party, Nigerians and indeed, the international community are keenly monitoring the development and expect the Buhari Presidency to muster the courage to carry out a comprehensive investigation and make its findings available to the public," the party said.

The party reiterated that he has lost the moral ground to preside over the agency and can only return after proving his innocence.

Magu's controversial reign as EFCC boss

While the reason for his Monday summon remains unclear, the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, recently sent a petition to President Buhari accusing Magu of corruption.

Malami urged the president to sack Magu whom he accused of insubordination and diversion of assets recovered by the EFCC.

The AGF's letter reportedly contained 22 weighty allegations that also included accounting gaps or discrepancies of figures concerning the recovered assets.

Malami also accused Magu of selling some of the recovered assets without anyone's knowledge, especially his ministry which is supervising ministry of the EFCC.

Magu has been the EFCC's acting chairman since 2015, with his appointment rejected twice by the Senate due to a damaging DSS report about his unsuitability for the role.

The DSS report had accused him of sabotage, unauthorised removal of EFCC files, and acts unbecoming of a police officer.

Despite the controversies, the president has always stuck with Magu and praised his leadership of the anti-graft agency.