- Magu Invited, Not Arrested — Presidency Insists
- He Should Be Reinstated If Not Found Culpable — Magu’s Lawyer
By Kolawole Ojebisi
The suspended Acting Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, who was released on Wednesday has said the allegations against him are fabricated and his detention a case of dog-eat-dog.
Magu said his current predicament is one of the risks of the job of fighting against corrupt persons.
The suspended EFCC boss was released on bail, on self-recognition, on the directive of the presidential panel investigating corruption allegations against him.
Read also: IGP Withdraws Magu’s Police Escort, Replaces Officers Attached To EFCC
Magu, who thanked those who stood by him while he was in detention, said President Muhammadu Buhari must be supported to eradicate corruption in the country.
He said: “I thanks those who stood by me.They should not be discouraged. I am happy to be back, I believe the war against corruption is winnable. They should not give up on the fight because corruption kills a nation faster than any other thing.
Read also: Magu And The Abuja Power Game, By Segun Adeniyi
“It is not a personal fight. Whether I am EFCC Chairman or not, the anti-corruption war must continue.”
On the allegations against him, he said: “The allegations are merely trumped-up allegations to tarnish my image and that of the EFCC. I did not steal or divert or convert funds to private use. I read the allegations and I was shocked.”
Recall that Magu was arrested last week, on June 6, and whisked to the presidential villa in Abuja, where he appeared before a panel President Muhammadu Buhari set up to probe the EFCC under him.
Read also: Tinubu, Osinbajo Targets Of Ongoing Magu’s Probe, Fani-Kayode Claims
The panel is headed by Ayo Salami, retired president of the appeal court.
Magu’s travails followed a memo by Malami accusing him of grave malfeasance. He was alleged to have mishandled the recovered loot and sold seized assets to his associates.
A slew of allegations has come to the fore since his arrest. He was alleged to have purchased a property in Dubai, United Arab Emirate using a pastor as a conduit.
He was also alleged to have laundered over N500 billion through a bureau-de-change in Kaduna.
Magu had earlier denied the allegations through his lawyers.
President Buhari had announced Mohammaded Umar, former director of operations at the EFCC, to take charge of the commission in acting capacity.
Meanwhile, the presidency has reacted to Mr Magu’s release after being detained for nine days.
Speaking on the development on Magu’s travails, Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, has said that suspended Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, was not on trial.
Adesina said Magu was only invited by the Justice Ayo Salami-led Presidential panel to his tell his own side of the story.
He said, “If anything illegal has been done, there are ways to seek redress for it but I think it is in the best interest of everybody including Magu for the panel to have invited him to hear his side of the story.
“I can tell you on authority that before this became a public issue, the panel had been sitting for weeks and when the panel established some grounds for Mr. Magu to be invited, the President then gave approval for him to be invited and he was invited and he came.”
Adesina said Magu was told to step aside to allow a seamless investigation.
In a similar vein, Magu’s lawyer, Mr Tosin Ojaomo, on Wednesday night, confirmed that his client, who is facing corruption charges had been released.
Ojaomo, on Wednesday night, confirmed that his client, who is facing corruption charges had been released.
The lawyer, however, said it was illegal for Magu to have been detained at the Force Criminal Investigations Department, FCID, for 10 days in the first place.
Ojaomo claimed that nothing incriminating was found in Magu’s house by investigators sent by the panel, noting that reports in the media of huge sums of money discovered were mere fabrications.
Ojaomo, who spoke on Channels TV programme, ‘Politics Today’, said if the Justice Ayo Salami panel eventually finds Magu not culpable of the allegations against him, he should be reinstated by the President.
