The acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu, was reportedly detained after he was quizzed for many hours by the presidential panel set up to investigate the allegations of corruption levelled against him and the agency by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.
The panel which is headed by Justice Isa Ayo Salami, a retired president of the Court of Appeal, drilled Magu for many hours before he was whisked away from the Presidential Villa where he was interrogated by the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) at about 10.15 pm shortly after the investigative panel ended its sitting. His escort mobile policemen and security detail were stood down before he was taken into custody.
It was learnt that shortly after emerging from the sitting, Magu was led into a waiting white Hilux van marked 371D. Magu insisted on sitting in the open space at the back of the Hilux. The police team persuaded him to sit in the first cabin. The ding-doing over his relocation to the FCID lasted about 25 minutes. Magu was later allowed to go to the FCID in his official car.
On Monday, July 6, Magu was intercepted on the road along Fomella Street while moving out of the Wuse II office Annex of the EFCC in Abuja. His invitation was then extended to him by a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) from the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID)
Some of the 22 allegations Magu is being investigated for include:
Alleged discrepancies in the reconciliation records of the EFCC and the Federal Ministry of Finance on recovered funds
Declaration of N539billion as recovered funds instead of N504b earlier claimed
Insubordination to the office of the AGF by not seeking his approval on some decisions
Not providing enough evidence for the extradition of ex-Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke
Alleged late action on the investigation of Process and Industrial Development (P&ID) leading to a legal dispute
Not respecting court order to unfreeze an N7billion judgment in favour of a former Executive Director of First Bank
Alleged delay in acting on two vessels seized by Nigerian Navy leading to the loss of crude
Alleged favouring of some investigators called Magu’s Boys
Reporting some judges to their presiding officers without deferring to the AGF
Alleged sales of seized assets to cronies, associates and friends
Alleged issuance of investigative activities to some media prejudicial to some cases