Magu’s Trial: Salami Panel Writes Buhari, To Present Final Report This Week

Nearly five months after it began investigation of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission under Ibrahim Magu, the Justice Ayo Salami Presidential Panel has concluded its work and is now set to deliver its final report to President Muhammadu Buhari.

THE WHISTLER can report that the panel has written to President Buhari to inform him of the conclusion of its assignment which began on July 6, and to seek a date for official presentation of its report.  

The development has also encouraged intense lobbying for the position of the EFCC chairman which is currently occupied in acting capacity by Mohammed Umar, a Director of Operations in the Commission.

This website learnt that the panel was compelled to round off its assignment after Buhari declined to grant it another extension. The Salami panel had requested for a second extension after the first one that was granted which extended the commission’s work beyond the initial 45 days.

It was unclear why Buhari declined the request but sources close to the President said he may have felt the panel had already spent “too much time.” The President had already granted the panel an extension which was billed to elapse tomorrow Wednesday-about 79 days beyond its original deadline.

An interim report of the panel which was submitted on August 18, had found Magu and the suspended Secretary of the EFCC, Olanipekun Olukoyede, guilty of some of the serious allegations of corruption and abuse of office.

But Magu’s lawyers, led by Wahab Shittu, had vehemently defended the integrity of their client, claiming that the suspended EFCC chairman was not given fair-hearing. Reports had also emerged that his lawyers walked out of the hearing at some point during the trial.

The source said the Salami panel could have submitted its final report to the President through, Ibrahim Gambari, the Chief of Staff, but didn’t so because it wanted Nigerians and the world to know it had finished its own assignment by a formal presentation to the President.

“I can confirm to you that the panel had concluded its assignment within the time extension it was granted. Although it wanted another extension, but the President refused to grant it and its work has now being concluded.

“I understand the panel had written to Mr President for a date to make the presentation within the week,” the source revealed.

Why President Set Up Salami Panel

Abubakar Malami, the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, had in a letter to President Buhari in June, accused the suspended Acting Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, of compromising the anti-corruption fight of the Administration.

Malami had leveled 22 allegations of corruption and insubordination against Magu, after he concluded that the “Acting Chairman of EFCC is not acting in the overall best interest of the country and the policies of this administration due to its Mismanagement and Lack of Transparency in Managing Recovered Assets;Diversion of Recovered Assets for Personal Enrichment; Neglecting to investigate the P & ID case as directed by the President” among others.

President Buhari subsequently, through a letter, in early July approved the establishment of a judicial commission of enquiry under the Tribunals of Inquiry Act (Cap T21, LFN, 2004), to investigate Malami’s allegations against Magu.

Members of the panel are Ayo Salami, retired president of the court of appeal, (north-central), who is the chairman; Anthony Ogbizi Michael, deputy inspector-general of police, (south-south) as deputy chairman, and Kazeem Attitebi (south-west) as secretary.

Others are Muhammad Abubakar Babadoko, ministry of justice (north-central); Hassan Yahaya Abdullahi (DSS) (north-central); Muhammad Shamsudeen (north-west) and Douglas Egweme (NFIU) (south-east).

The commission was initially given 45 days “from its first public sitting” to submit its report. That date expired on August 18, but Buhari granted a request for extension after the panel noted that the investigation would extend beyond Magu.

Magu’s Arrest and Trial

Magu was reportedly arrested on July 6 by a combined team of DSS operatives and officers from the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), and then taken before the panel.

He was kept in detention for nearly 10 days from where he was taken daily to appear before the panel, whose sitting was behind closed doors. He was later granted bail and allowed to come for the panel sitting from home.

But on July 10, four days after his arrest, President Buhari suspended him as acting chairman of the EFCC and appointed Mohammed Umar to “take charge and oversee the activities of the Commission pending the conclusion of the ongoing investigation…” Umar was the Commission’s Director of Operations.

But it was not until August that Magu was able to open his own defense after his lawyers, led by Wahab Shittu, called for fair hearing for the embattled former EFCC boss.

Lobby for Magu’s Replacement Begins

THE WHISTLER can authoritatively report that some persons and interest groups have begun the lobby for the EFCC chairman’s job in view of the conclusion of Salami panel’s investigation.

No names have been thrown up yet but those close to the President and the Buhari Administration are said to be showing “unusual interest” in how the anti-graft agency would be run post Magu.