Buhari suspends another EFCC top official, 12 others

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday ordered the indefinite suspension of a top and ‘powerful’ official in the legal arm of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Abba Ibrahim. 

Also suspended indefinitely were 12 other officials.

Ibrahim and the suspension of the latest 12 came days after the president approved the suspension of 12 directors in the commission alongside its secretary, Olanipekun Olukoyede.

Ibrahim was one of EFCC’s legal team that “handled sensitive cases.

More officials were quizzed by the Presidential Investigation Committee, headed by retired Justice Isa Ayo Salami.

Some of those grilled were handling sensitive investigations.

One of the officials had his car pushed at the Banquet Hall Wing of the Presidential Villa before it could start

According to findings, all the 12 got their suspension letters yesterday.

A top source said: “After being in limbo for one week, we got our suspension letters on Monday.

“We were informed that the suspension is indefinite. We have taken it in good faith. But most of us have not received queries in our career.

“We have not even appeared before any disciplinary committee. We appeal to President Mummadu Buhari to intervene by reversing the suspension.”

The order was handed down on Monday following a request by the Presidential Panel investigating the allegations of graft and misconduct against the former EFCC acting Chairman, Ibrahim Magu.

Magu was on July 6 arrested by a combined team of Department of State Services personnel and policemen and taken to the Presidential Villa in Abuja to answer questions from an investigative panel headed by Justice Ayo Salami, a retired judge of the Court of Appeal.

The panel also asked him to react to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU, report which indicted him of siphoning money from the EFCC.

The NFIU report also revealed that a particular Bureau de Change, allegedly owned by Ahmed Ibrahim Shanono linked to the Acting Chairman based in Kaduna has more than 158 accounts and has been receiving huge sums of funds.

The report also accused Magu of laundering money through Pastor Emmanuel Omale of Hand of God Prophetic Ministry.

Omale was alleged to have bought a landed property on behalf of Magu worth N573 million in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Magu has also been accused to have allegedly failed to give a proper account of missing 332 out of the 836 recovered real estate property as at March 2018.

But the former EFCC boss had denied the allegations.