Wahab Shittu, the lawyer to Ibrahim Magu, suspended Chairman
of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says the decision of the
English Court on a suit against Nigeria confirmed that the agency did a
thorough job.
The court has granted the federal government’s request to
contest a $9.6billion fine in favour of Process and Industrial Development
Limited (P&ID).
President Muhammadu Buhari administration wants the
judgement regarding a controversial Gas Supply and Processing Agreement (GSPA)
reversed.
In a statement on Sunday, Shittu said the landmark outcome
was due to “Magu’s hard work and leadership style”.
Shittu noted that Nigeria has been relieved of the impact of
such huge penalty on the economy.
“The decision once more shows that rather than punish Mr.
Magu over his handling of the investigation, he should be given a heroic
commendation for saving the country in a huge way. Magu should be celebrated
rather than be vilified.
“It is rather unfortunate that the handling of P&ID
investigation forms part of the allegations against him. Magu which led to his
suspension. There is no gainsaying that the evidence relied on in arriving at
the decision came from the EFCC under Mr. Magu.”
The counsel said the Judge was satisfied with the manner the
EFCC carried out its investigation and that he made it known at paragraphs 253
and 254 of the judgment.
He quoted the judge as saying: “What occurred might have
been the EFCC proceeding at its normal pace in the light of the resources
allocated to it, the other inquiries it was conducting and conditions in
Nigeria. By comparison the position after August, 2019 might be exceptional and
prompted by the serious position Nigeria faced in the light of Butchers J’s
decision on the enforcement application.
“At this point, it is impossible to say. However, I cannot
accept Mr. Mill’s (P&ID’s counsel) submission that there was no proper
diligent investigation. The basic point is that there was no specific
information such that Nigeria ought to have become aware of the building blocks
of fraud now alleged.”
The Judge observed at paragraph 251 that Mr. Mill
underplayed the work which was undertaken over the June 2018 – August 2019
period.
“In particular there was the successful prosecution of P&ID
and P&ID Nigeria on 19 September, 2019 based on the ground work undertaken
during this fifteen-month period.”
The Judge concluded at page 260 that the fraud was complex
in character.
“Even on my preliminary examination, it comprises a number
of quite different strands. What occurred in this case, was deliberately
concealed. Especially with international advisers it engaged, P&ID wore the
cloak of legitimacy. In the circumstances which Nigeria has prima facie
established it acted reasonably in its investigations.”
Shittu lamented that investigators and prosecutors including
Magu used to close from work at 1am, 2am and resume by 8am including Saturdays
and Sundays.
“Unfortunately some of these men are currently on suspension
without pay or transferred out of EFCC for doing nothing but working
assiduously to save this country. They were not given any allegation or issued
query.”
Shittu stressed that the investigation against Magu and the
EFCC would have caused the country to lose the judgment.
“This is because P&ID used the petition by the AGF
(Abubakar Malami) against Mr. Magu to strengthen their case with Nigeria.
Luckily, we have an upright English Judge who prudently appreciated the excellent
and patriotic effort of the EFCC under Magu and the ineffectiveness of the
AGF’s complaint”, he added.
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