A witness, Ngozika Ihuoma, yesterday revealed how the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, under its former acting Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, mismanaged 222 assets worth N1.63tn.
The money was recovered by the defunct Pension Reform Taskforce Team.
He revealed this at the Federal High Court in Abuja, when she appeared as the first defence witness in the ongoing trial of Abdulrasheed Maina, former chairman of the disbanded Pension Reform Transition Taskforce, PRTT.
According to him, Magu admitted before the Justice Ayo Salami Judicial Commission of Inquiry that he shared most of the properties based on a presidential directive.
“Magu admitted before Salami that he shared and allocated most of these properties to his friends, associates and colleagues under some presidential directives, but failed to make available to the commission the evidence of that presidential directive,” he said.
Ihuoma, a management consultant, told the court that PRTT contracted his company, Crincad & Cari Nigeria Limited, consultancy service.
He said that one of the choice properties Maina’s team recovered and handed over to the EFCC worth N6bn in 2011 was sold to a renowned lawyer in 2015 for N1bn.
“One of the properties in question located at No. 42 Gana Street, Maitama, was illegally acquired by a renowned lawyer while the property was still subject to litigation,” he told the court.