The House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions on Tuesday
issued an arrest warrant against the Acting Chairman of the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, for refusing to appear
before it.
The committee had, several times, invited Magu to appear before it on a petition by former first lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan.
It
said that Magu should be arrested and presented before it on November
7, after his failure to appear before the panel despite several
invitations.
Mrs. Jonathan had some of her accounts frozen by
some banks following an investigation launched by the EFCC; but a
Federal High Court sitting in Lagos ordered that all her bank accounts
should be unfrozen.
The former first lady consequently sent a
petition to the House against the EFCC, the National Drug Law
Enforcement Agency, among others, alleging harassment from them.
At
the continuation of sitting on the petition in Abuja, the committee,
which gave Magu up to October 4 to appear, lamented that the EFCC
chairman was nonchalant concerning the matter.
The panel,
chaired by Rep Uzoma Nkem-Abonta (Abia-PDP), said it had sent several
letters inviting the EFCC chairman to appear before it and clear the air
on the directive the commission gave some banks to freeze Mrs.
Jonathan’s accounts.
A member of the committee, Rep Kingsley
Chinda ( PDP-Rivers), consequently moved that a bench warrant be issued
against Magu to appear before the panel on the next adjourned date.
All the members of the committee present at the sitting supported the motion.
The chairman of the committee then ruled that a bench warrant be issued against Magu.
Meanwhile,
the committee has directed Mrs. Jonathan’s lawyers to sit with the
management of Zenith Bank, Eco Bank, First Bank and Fidelity Bank to
address the issue of the court order asking the banks to unfreeze her
accounts.
The committee also discharged Union Bank as it fully complied with an earlier directive to unfreeze Mrs. Jonathan’s accounts.
The
committee had, a fortnight ago, directed all the affected banks to
unfreeze Mrs. Jonathan’s bank accounts that do not have any pending
court orders or official communication from the EFCC to do so. (NAN)