There are indications that Magu, maybe facing fresh cases of alleged re-looting of funds recovered by the commission as well as bribery.
It was reported that the Final Report of Presidential Committee on Audit of Recovered Assets (PCARA) that covered the period of May 29, 2015, to Nov. 22, 2018, had also confirmed the concerns of the public about contradictory recovery figures emanating from Magu. “It is quite disturbing that conflicting figures are being circulated in the public space by EFCC as the amount of recovered funds.
“For Foreign currency recoveries, EFCC reported a total naira equivalent of N46,038,882,509.87, while the naira equivalent of the foreign currency, lodgements were N37,533,764,195.66, representing a shortfall of N8,505,118,314.21. “These inconsistencies cast serious doubt on the accuracy of figures submitted by the EFCC. It is the committee’s view that the EFCC cannot be said to have fully accounted for cash recoveries made by it.
“While EFCC reported total Naira recoveries of N504,154,184,744.04, the actual bank lodgements were N543,511,792,863.47. These discrepancies mean that EFCC’s actual lodgement exceeded its reported recoveries by N39,357,608,119.43.
“It must be pointed out that the discrepancy of more than thirty-nine billion naira does not include interest accrued in this account since it was opened. “It, therefore, cast serious doubt on the credibility of the figures and means that substantial amount of money has not been accurately accounted for. “Failure to report on the interest on actual lodgments clearly establishes that interest element of over N550 billion has been re-looted relating to the period under review.
“This is an apparent case of manipulation of data in a very brazen and unprofessional manner and this has greatly eroded the public confidence in the anti-corruption efforts,’’ the report stated in part. NAN also reports that the PCARA revealed how the investigative reports on EFCC’s activities by the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) exposed acts of corruption and money laundering against some EFCC officials, including Magu.
“The NFIU reports established that the acting Chairman has been using different sources to siphon money from the EFCC, and in some cases collecting bribes from suspects.