Ibrahim Magu, acting chairman of
the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Thursday told Doris
Okuwobi, a judge of a Lagos state high court, that he had never been
investigated by the Department of State Services (DSS).
Magu said this while giving
evidence in a N100m suit he filed against the publisher of The Sun newspaper
and four others over alleged defamation.
Joined in the suit are Fred Itua,
editor, Saturday Sun; James Ojo and Lawrence Enyoghasu.
Magu is seeking compensation for
“libelous imputations” and statements made against him in a story published in
the March 25, 2017 edition of The Saturday Sun entitled: “Magu Under Fresh
Probe Over 2 Abuja Mansions”.
At today’s proceedings, Magu, who
gave evidence in-chief, told the court that the statement of oath written by
him through his lawyer, Wahab Shittu, represented his evidence in the
proceedings.
Led in evidence by Shittu, Magu
told the court that the publication was done deliberately to damage his
reputation.
“The publication said I was under
probe but no government agency, has probed or investigated me since I came to
the EFCC,” he said.
In his further testimony, he told
the court that the publication was completely false, adding that “I cannot buy
a house in Maitama, even if I have the money because houses there are so
expensive.
“I live a modest life. My wife is
a civil servant. We have only one house in Karu site, Abuja; and when I retire,
I will go back there. The onus is on the defendants to produce the owners of
the properties. The publication has done a lot of damage to my reputation and
that of my lineage.”
When Magu’s lawyer sought to
tender a letter of complaint written on behalf of his client to the publishers
of the newspaper, counsel to the defendants, Charles Enweluata, objected to its
admissibility on the grounds that it did not carry the legal practitioner’s
seal.
He, however, said the
“irregularity was curable.”
In his response, Shittu said: “It
does not derogate the admissibility of the letter since the witness has
identified and confirmed it.
“It is written on my letter head.
The contents are relevant to the proceedings and the author of the letter has
also confirmed it. He, therefore, urged the court to discountenance the
objection by the defence counsel and admit the document in evidence.
In her ruling, the judge ordered
the claimant’s counsel to get the seal. “It will be admissible upon the fixing
of the seal to the letter”, she ruled.
When the seal was eventually
produced, the court admitted the document in evidence.
Giving further evidence, Magu
told the court that the second story by the newspaper entitled” Magu: The
Untold Story”, was not intended to correct the damage created by the first
report done on him.
“They went to my town and
interviewed several people. They wanted to get more things to damage my
reputation. But they were disappointed,” he said.
Under cross-examination by
counsel to the defendants, Charles Enweluata, Magu admitted that his wife,
Fatima, was not a party in the suit but that she was allegedly linked to the
properties mentioned.
When asked if he read in the
story that he was being investigated by the DSS, he said “Yes, I read the
story.
“But there was no name of any
agency investigating my wife or me. The paper did not mention DSS.”
Also, when the defence counsel
put it to the claimant that the story carried the name of the Department of
State Security as the investigating body, Magu said: “The paper did not mention
DSS.
“I do not agree that the DSS
investigated me or my wife in any manner.”
Consequently, the matter was
adjourned till February 28, 2019 for further hearing.
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