The suspended acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, has denied more corruption allegations levelled against him and also vowed to re­spond “point by point to all false allegations orchestrated against him”.

Magu, who spoke through his lawyer, Wahab Shittu, via a statement Sunday, refuted reports of him misappropriating N329 billion recovered funds for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC) and another N3 billion recovered for the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

He explained that he remitted the said fund from oil marketers into the accounts of the  Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, noting that the receipt of the payment was confirmed by the NNPC.

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The statement read “The truth of the matter is that well over N329 billion recovered by EFCC under our client’s watch was remitted directly into NNPC dedicated accounts via Remita under a special arrangement endorsed by NNPC, EFCC, and the affected NNPC’s indebted marketers.

By virtue of the said special arrangement, NNPC had requested formally the EFCC to recover the said amount from the affected NNPC’s marketers who were expected to pay such funds directly to NNPC while NNPC, in turn, confirmed receipt of such payments to EFCC.”

Therefore, EFCC never took custody of any of the recovered funds and so, the question of misappropriation of such funds by EFCC or our client could not have arisen as falsely published.” 

Recall, Magu was arrested on July 6 and subsequently suspended as EFCC Acting Chairman fol­lowing allegations of corrup­tion and money laundering. He was detained for about 10 days before his release, on July 15, Eons Intelligence reports.

Magu is currently being investigated by a panel headed by a former President of the appeal court, Ayo Salami, over allegations of corruption and insubordination levelled against him by the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.

Meanwhile, the former EFCC acting chairman has described all reports over allegations levelled against him as “gross misrepresentation and blatant falsehood,” saying such allegations never featured in the ongoing proceedings probing him.

On the allegation that N3 billion recovered from FIRS was not accounted for, he described the report as “falsehood from the pit of hell”.

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Also in the statement, he vowed to henceforth respond to all false allegations orchestrated against him on a daily basis, as well as presenting evidence for his defence.

“Take notice that our client can no longer fold his hands in the face of these sustained malicious attacks to prejudge him in the public space. Our client will henceforth, point by point reply to all false allegations orchestrated against him in the public space on a daily basis as well as present his comprehensive defence for the world to see, he said through his lawyer.

Shittu said, “This is without prejudice to the willingness of our client to defend himself in the ongoing proceedings at the Presidential Investigation Panel.

“Take notice that our client can no longer fold his hands in the face of these sustained malicious attacks to prejudge him in the public space. Our client will henceforth, point by point, reply to all false allegations orchestrated against him in the public space on a daily basis as well as present his comprehensive defence for the world to see.

“This is without prejudice to the willingness of our client to defend himself in the ongoing proceedings at the Presidential Investigation Panel.

“The truth of the matter is that well over N329 billion recovered by EFCC under our client’s watch was remitted directly into NNPC dedicated accounts via Remita under a special arrangement endorsed by NNPC, EFCC, and the affected NNPC’s indebted marketers.

“By virtue of the said special arrangement, NNPC had requested formally the EFCC to recover the said amount from the affected NNPC’s marketers who were expected to pay such funds directly to NNPC while NNPC, in turn, confirmed receipt of such payments to EFCC.