Magu writes Salami’s panel, demands copies of petition

The suspended Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu has once again written to the Chairman of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry through his lawyer, Wahab Shittu probing him and the affairs of the Commission.

This has shown his relentless efforts on his request for a fair hearing.

The former EFCC boss in his letter dated 20 August 2020, requested for the copies of documents so far tendered against him by those who have appeared before the commission.

Magu also demanded that he be given the necessary documents by the commission to be able to defend himself in view of the weight of criminal allegations levelled against him and the anti-graft agency.

Shittu wrote, “Please refer to SECTION 36(6)(A)(B) CFRN 1999 which provides as follows: Every person who is charged with a criminal offence shall be entitled to be informed promptly in the language that he understands and in details of the nature of the offence”.

“Be given adequate time and facility for the preparation of his defence. Based on the foregoing, we request ahead of the defence of our client before this judicial commission of inquiry for the following:

• Copies of all presentations/petitions against our client tendered in these proceedings; access to all exhibits tendered in these proceedings; access to relevant case files and documents tendered in these proceedings; any other materials that will be relevant for purposes of the defence of our client in these proceedings.
• We humbly request you to note that in view of the timeline stipulated above and the need to clarify the duration of the sittings and whether the appointing authority has extended the period, it is of utmost importance that access to the requested documents is granted to our client and his counsel to ensure seamless proceedings and the guarantee of fair hearing as enshrined in the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the letter read.

The suspended EFCC chairman had earlier in July complained of not receiving a copy of the allegations levelled against him.

Magu’s travails have come after a memo was released by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, accusing him of selling recovered looted assets to his associates.