The Justice Ayo Salami-led presidential panel investigating the suspended acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Ibrahim Magu has rejected his letter explaining the fate of some of the vehicles recovered from looters.
The letter titled “Re: Alleged Case of Conspiracy, Enrichment, Abuse of Public Office and Other Infractions” was in response to an earlier report by the Presidential Committee on Audit of Recovered Assets in which Mr Magu was accused of being unable to account for the interest accrued to N550bn recovered funds as well as recovered vehicles and houses.
Magu said in the letter seen by The Punch that some of the agencies which were auctioned the vehicles had not paid for them but there was an arrangement that the money would be deducted from their financial allocation.
He said some of those recovered by the EFCC were auctioned to the Presidential Villa, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development as well as the Federal Inland Revenue Services and other agencies.
“The commission presently has presidential approval to dispose over 450 forfeited vehicles located in Lagos and Abuja. The vehicles have been valued by the National Automotive Council Valuers and the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing. But no sale/disposal has been conducted yet,” Magu said.
According to him, some houses permanently forfeited to the Federal Government by looters had also been handed over to some government agencies like the Voice of Nigeria, North -East Development Commission and the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate.
It was gathered that the panel insisted it would not accept the letter which Magu’s lawyer Wahab Shittu attempted to submit on Monday.
“An attempt to submit the letter to the secretary of the panel on Monday failed. Magu’s team was informed that the panel does not entertain letters but it is purely an investigative one. If there is a need for clarification, Magu would be invited,” a source was quoted saying.
Magu was arrested by the police on July 6, detained for about 10 days and made to appear before the investigative panel on a daily basis.
