stice Ayo Salami said he regrets heading the
presidential panel set up to investigate Ibrahim
Magu’s tenure as EFCC chairperson, two
lawyers present when the jurist allegedly made
the statement told PREMIUM TIMES.
Mr Salami allegedly stated this on Friday at the
close of Mr Magu’s defence hearing held at the
Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The panel, headed by Mr Salami, a former
President of the Appeal Court, is investigating
allegations of corruption and insubordination
following complaints by the attorney general of
the federation, Abubakar Malami, which led to
Mr Magu’s suspension from his EFCC role.
The sitting of the panel has been held behind
closed doors with journalists barred from
attending. Journalists have, therefore, relied on
lawyers and witnesses who appear before the
panel to get details of what transpired.
Civil rights organisations and activists have
demanded that the sitting of the panel be made
public for the sake of transparency and
fairness. However, such calls have been
ignored.
Speaking to PREMIUM TIMES in separate
interviews, two lawyers to Mr Magu who were at
Friday’s sitting, Tosin Ojaoma and Zainab
Abiola, said before the commencement of the
proceedings, Mr Salami told them that he
regrets accepting the task to chair the panel.
“We all sat down as lawyers, after a little period,
Justice salami said he regretted working in this
panel.
“As soon as the proceedings opened, Salami
was full of regrets, he (Salami) brought out his
handkerchief and said he is full of regret taking
up the job. Then our team asked him, is it
because the panel is yet to find evidence
against our client, (Magu), Mr Salami did not
respond he only kept saying he regrets taking
up the job,” Mrs Abiola said.
Mr Ojaoma also gave a similar narration.
“Mr Salami kept saying he feels embarrassed
for talking up the job. He also lamented that for
years after he had retired he was seated in his
home eating Tuwo (a popular food from the
northern part of Nigeria),” without any
disturbance, Mr Ojaoma told PREMIUM TIMES.
Mr Salami’s panel was supposed to have sent in
its report, but it asked for more time to
conlcude its assignment.
Mr Buhari had approved the establishment of
the Salami panel, tagged the Judicial
Commission of Enquiry under the Tribunals of
Inquiry Act (Cap T21, LFN, 2004), for the
investigation of the activities of the EFCC from
May 2015 to May 2020.
Mr Magu was arrested in a dramatic manner in
July and driven to the Presidential Villa where
the panel seats. He was also detained for more
than four days on the directive of the panel. He
was eventually released but still attends the
panel’s hearing while his suspension continues.
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