Fresh facts have reportedly emerged as a businessman played a tape recording before the presidential probe panel led by Justice Ayo Salami.
The tape was alleged to have shown how some operatives of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), popularly known as ‘Magu boys,’ used a lawyer to demand a N75 million bribe and asked to be paid into different accounts.
The businessman, Mr Donald Wokoma of Damijay Integrated Services Limited, it was gathered, had tendered an affidavit of fact in support of a petition he wrote against ‘Magu boys’ for extorting him before unfreezing his account.
According to reports, the EFCC had in 2018 refused to obey the order of Justice O.C. Agbaza to lift the restrictions on the account of Damijay Services Limited, after the firm had filed a suit for fundamental rights enforcement at the FCT High Court.
An Abuja-based lawyer, who was allegedly involved in the deal, did not deny his voice in the 27 minutes tape recording that was played before the panel where he mentioned names of suspended Chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, among other operatives over the bribery allegation.
The lawyer was said to have been the former lawyer to the company on the case with the EFCC.
Meanwhile, the businessman, in the affidavit sighted by the Economic Confidential, alleged that on or around 20th of May, 2020, the said barrister asked him to sign three blank cheques (valued at 25 million Naira each), which he would hand over to the people in EFCC to enable them unfreeze the account.
‘Magu boys,’ the petitioner revealed, had sent three different bank accounts namely Cikin Gida Nigeria Limited with account number: 1771773211, at Polaris Bank; Black and Black Global Concept Limited with account number: 0259011841 with Gtbank; and Amina Kigbu with account number: 2176716071 with Zenith Bank, for the payment of the alleged bribe.
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Reports, however, revealed that when the cheques were not honoured by the bank, the ‘Magu boys’ requested that the businessman should execute an Irrevocable Standing Payment Order (on the company’s official letterhead) in favour of the three bank accounts and later demanded for 40% of the money in the company’s account (which aggregates to One Hundred Million Naira) which the businessman outrightly rejected.
