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Justice Salami Panel To Submit Report On Magu To President Buhari On Friday

November 19, 2020

The panel headed by a retired justice and President of the Appeal Court, Ayo Salami, was inaugurated by Buhari in July to deliver on the assignment with a period of 45 days but that timeframe was extended further after the panel requested more time.

The panel established to investigate allegations of corruption and abuse of office against suspended Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu, will submit its findings to President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday in Abuja.

The panel headed by a retired justice and President of the Appeal Court, Ayo Salami, was inaugurated by Buhari in July to deliver on the assignment with a period of 45 days but that timeframe was extended further after the panel requested more time.

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However, after over three months, the panel will finally submit its report to the President on Friday.

SaharaReporters gathered that President Buhari specifically asked his Chief of Staff, Prof Ibrahim Gambari, to invite other top-ranking government officials to be part of the presentation to make it a major occasion.

Consequently, Gambari has invited Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, Attorney-General of the Federation and main accuser of Magu, Abubakar Malami, Acting EFCC Chairman, Mohammed Umar, and Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, Garba Shehu.

But a source told SaharaReporters that Malami was not comfortable with the plan as it takes the control of the panel report away from him.

"The AGF is said to be technically uncomfortable with the situation that has taken the control of the committee and report away from him. 

"We shall wait to see what the findings and recommendations of the committee will be. Malami is not happy about this," the source said.

Malami had in a series of letters to President Buhari accused Magu of financial misappropriation, acquiring a property in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and failing to protect the interest of Nigeria in the $9.6bn Process and Industrial Developments Limited case in a London court.

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Relying on that report, President Buhari suspended Magu in July after which he was arrested and put in detention for several days before his release on bail.

Magu’s legal team led by Wahab Shittu has described the allegations against him as frivolous with no shred of evidence of wrongdoing against the suspended EFCC Acting Chairman.

Rights groups have condemned the mode of operation of the Justice Salami-led panel, describing it as lacking in transparency and a mere witch-hunt of Magu by some powerful elements in government.

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