The suspended Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu has again written to the Chairman of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry probing him and the affairs of the commission under his watch, requesting for copies of documents tendered against him by those who appeared before the probe team.
In the letter dated August 20, the former EFCC boss, through his lawyer, Wahab Shittu, said the release of the documents became necessary to enable him defend himself, given the weight of criminal allegations levelled against him and the anti-graft agency.
“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,” Shittu wrote.
“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.
Channels TV reports that Magu’s travail followed a petition by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation Abubakar Malami, who accused him of selling recovered looted assets to his associates.