The cases compromised under the watch of the former acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) were estimated to be worth N333 billion, $2 billion, and £13 million, according to the presidential commission that investigated Ibrahim Magu.
The judicial panel stated that the administration and operation of the anti-graft commission under Magu’s leadership were characterised by impunity and arbitrariness in the final report it sent to President Muhammadu Buhari in November 2020.
Usman Zakari, a commission employee, is alleged to have mishandled 23 cases totaling N45 billion, and the commission is charged with breaking procurement procedures.
For the period of May 2015 to May 2020, while Magu was in charge of the EFCC, a panel led by former court of appeals president Ayo Salami was established to investigate the organisation.
The report has already been delivered to the federation’s government secretary’s office.
Magu’s lawyer Wahab Shittu declined to comment when reached, stating that he wouldn’t speak on a document he hadn’t read.
“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 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.”
