A former Executive Director with First Bank of Nigeria Plc , Dauda Lawal , appeared before the Justice Ayo Salami - led presidential panel on Saturday to give evidence against the suspended Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission , Ibrahim Magu .
Lawal is currently standing trial before a Federal High Court in Lagos for allegedly receiving $ 25 m out of the $ 153m loot traced to a former Minister of Petroleum Resources , Diezani Alison- Madueke .
A source close to the panel said the former banker was invited as part of a probe into the investigative deficiencies of the EFCC under Magu .
He said Lawal was asked to testify without prejudice to his ongoing corruption trial .
It was learnt that while the former banker was giving his testimony , Magu walked into the venue at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa around 12 pm , three hours before he was scheduled to appear .
A top source said , “ Lawal appeared before the panel to clarify some allegations he had made in the past against the EFCC some of which had been reported to the Office of the Attorney - General of the Federation. This was without prejudice to his ongoing corruption trial .
“ However , Magu strolled in around 12 pm even though he was expected to arrive at 3 pm. The panel members were initially reluctant to let Magu witness the hearing but he pleaded and was permitted to do so . ”
Lawal , however , repeated the allegations he made against the EFCC in a counter -affidavit he filed before Justice Muslim Hassan of a Federal High Court in 2017 .
The EFCC had frozen Lawal ’ s accounts and applied for the permanent forfeiture of his funds which the ex - banker challenged .
In a counter - affidavit he deposed to which formed the basis for his invitation by the panel , Lawal said the EFCC detained him for 11 days in 2016 and promised to release him only on the condition that he return some funds .
On how he received the $ 25 m , Lawal said he received a call from a friend , Stanley Lawson, March 2015 to help collect the money , which he subsequently paid into an account provided for him .
“ I had no idea of the origin of the said funds and only acted in the course of normal banking business, ” he said .
The former banker said the EFCC allegedly compelled him to provide funds he never received.
Lawal said in the affidavit, “ Having been invited and subsequently detained in Lagos for 11 consecutive days and without access to members of my immediate family , the EFCC investigators kept suggesting and insisting that there was a shortfall of $ 40 m , which I had yet to account for .
“ They were alleging that I had in fact taken $ 65 m as opposed to the $ 25 m , which I stated that I had received. The EFCC investigators interrogating me made it clear that the only way that I could /would leave detention is if I made their suggested shortfall available to them .
“ Because I never had this EFCC invented $ 40 m to give , I had to use my personal connections to source for and raise about 50 per cent of the said amount while I was in detention . I managed to borrow some of the money from the bank where I am an executive director and surrendered it to the EFCC through my legal counsel and was eventually released from detention on May 20 , 2016 .
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