The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission mismanaged 222 assets worth N1.63tn while Ibrahim Magu was its acting chairman, a witness told the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday.
Ngozika Ihuoma had appeared before the court as the first defence witness in the ongoing fraud and money laundering trial of the former chairman of the disbanded Pension Reform Taskforce Team, Abdulrasheed Maina.
Ihuoma, a management consultant, said the assets were recovered by the PRTT under Maina. He said his firm, Crincad & Cari Nigeria Limited, was contracted by the PRTT for consultancy service.
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.
He told the court that one of the choice properties the PRTT recovered and handed over to the EFCC was grossly undervalued from N6bn in 2011 and 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,” the witness added, insisting that EFCC should be made to account for all the recovered assets.
