Magu sinks deeper as police find more ‘incriminating evidence’

The suspended acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, may be sinking deeper into trouble as police have reportedly discovered more ‘incriminating evidence’ against him following a thorough search in his residence in Karu and his official residence in Maitama, Abuja, on Tuesday.

A source close to the police told BusinessDay that a combined team of operatives of police and the Department of State Services (DSS) that stormed Magu’s two residences allegedly found some ‘incriminating materials’ that “could be deployed in the ongoing investigation of the embattled EFCC boss over the ‘weighty’ allegations of corruption and misconduct levelled against him by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami”. The source, however, did not disclose the nature of the materials.

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BusinessDay had on Tuesday reported that Magu may spend a second night in detention after he was reportedly arrested by the DSS and detained at the police headquarters on Monday over fraud allegations. The source confirmed that Magu was returned to the Force headquarters to be detained again on Tuesday after he was grilled by the Ayo Salami- led presidential panel set up to investigate him.

Magu, who is a commissioner of police, is reportedly also being investigated by the Police Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) and may face dismissal if found culpable of the allegations, the source added.

Attorney-General Malami had on June 20 sent a memo to President Muhammadu Buhari with details of Magu’s alleged corruption and misconduct, alleging that Magu had misappropriated and relooted funds recovered from corrupt people and kept the proceeds to himself and cronies. Malami also recommended that he should be sacked.

One of the accusations against Magu was that he rented a house of N20 million annually paying N40 million upfront. The said amount was allegedly paid for by one retired commodore, Mohammed Umar, who was said to be under investigation by the EFCC for fraudulent deals. Magu was also accused of living a lavish lifestyle and more recently hiring a private jet to Dubai during the lockdown in clear violation of the rules. His excuse was that he went to do an investigation.

Magu had remained in acting capacity as the EFCC chairman for over four years because the 8th Senate led by Bukola Saraki refused to confirm his nomination as substantive chairman following a damning report against him by the DSS in 2016. He was again rejected by the Senate in 2017.

However, President Buhari retained him against the provisions of Section 2(3) of the EFCC Act 2004 which stipulate that the Senate must confirm a nominee before he could continue in office.