The presidential panel that probed Ibrahim Magu says the cases compromised under the watch of the former acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) were calculated to the tune of N333 billion, $2 billion and £13 million.
In the final report submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari in November 2020, the judicial panel said the running and management of the anti-graft commission during Magu’s tenure was charaterised by impunity and arbitrariness,TheCable can report..
Usman Zakari, an operative of the commission, was said to have bungled 23 cases worth N45 billion, while the commision was accused of violating procurement processes.
The panel headed by Ayo Salami, former president of the court of appeal, was set up to probe the EFCC from May 2015 to May 2020 when Magu was in charge of the agency.
TheCable understands that the report has now been submitted to the office of the secretary to the government of the federation.
A panel to produce the white paper will soon be set up, presidency sources informed TheCable.
When TheCable contacted Wahab Shittu, Magu’s lawyer, to react to the report, he declined to comment, saying he wouldn’t speak on a document he has not seen.
“The EFCC awarded the contract for the new headquarters consultancy services at the rate of N451,318,501 instead of the N399,243,290 approved by the BPP. The commission observes that the EFCC formed the habit of not engaging the use of the default procurement method (open competitive bidding). The EFCC in some cases, extend/renew contracts without obtaining approvals from the relevant/appropriate authorities,” the panel said.
“The submissions made by the EFCC on the status of investigation conducted by the zonal offices exposed some operatives who are notoriosly engaged in brazen compromise of cases. The affected cases were either closed or Kept-in-View (KIV) by the dubious operatives.
“The compromised cases in naira denomination involved the sum of N333,535,364,077. The compromised cases in US dollar denomination are valued at $2,521,011,976. The compromised cases in calculated in British pounds denomination are valued at £13,143,570. One of the operatives identified as Usman Zakari dubiously kept-in-view 23 different cases, with offences ranging from money laundering, diversion of funds, obtaining under false pretense, all involving a total sum of N45,262,005,908.”
PANEL: EFCC HAS NO OPERATING MANUAL
In the final report, the panel further said some of the EFCC zonal offices are lacking in basic working equipment and vehicles, and that the commission’s working system is archaic.
