Maina’s Witness Has No Document To Prove His Allegations Against Magu

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has defended the allegations that its former boss, Ibrahim Magu, misappropriated 222 properties worth N1.63trn recovered by the Abdulrasheed Maina-led Pension Reform Task Team.

Counsel for the anti-graft agency, Mohammed Abubakar, on Friday, said the allegations made by Maina’s witness, Ngozika Ihuoma, could not be proved.

Ihuoma, who was the first defense witness in the trial of Maina for N2bn fraud, made the allegations during his testimony in defense of Maina before the court.

He told the court on Thursday that the properties were handed over to the EFCC and sold by Magu to his friends and associates.

The witness added that a petition written to the Attorney General of the Federation led to the setting up of the Ayo Salami-led judicial commission of inquiry which probed Magu for the allegation of corruption and abuse of office

Ihuoma said, “Magu admitted before Salami that he shared and allocated most of these properties to most of his friends, associates, colleagues under some presidential directives but failed to make available to the commission the evidence of that presidential directives.”

READ ALSO: ₦1.66tn Assets Recovered From Maina Re-Looted By The EFCC – Witness

However, the EFCC counsel, during cross examination on Friday, the witness admitted that no document to prove the allegation against Magu was brought before the court.

“Did you tender in court the purported petition to the AGF against Magu and the EFCC that led to the setting up of the Ayo Salami panel? You did not tender proof that Magu confessed to the allegations. You said that the report of the Ayo Salami panel indicted Magu but did not tender the said report submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari about the activities of the panel,” Abubakar said.

Maina is being arraigned for money laundering allegattions to the tune of N2bn.

In the same vein, the new Chairman of the Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, on Friday, said the agency would create an intelligence directorate to steer it towards proactive and intelligence-led investigation.

Bawa disclosed that he will fight corruption and not corrupt people.

In a statement by the spokesperson of the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, titled, ‘Bawa assumes office, says fight against corruption will be intelligence-driven,’ Bawa said the new directorate would ensure a proactive response to the fight against corruption.

He said, “We are going to digitalise our processes and we are going to create a new full-pledged directorate of intelligence to enable us gather intelligence so that we will be proactive in our fight against economic and financial crimes; and by so doing, we will also provide the government with necessary quality advice that will lead to good governance.”