Falana Denies Receiving N28m From Magu, Threatens Lawsuit

Femi Falana (SAN) activist lawyer, has refuted reports alleging that he received the sum of 28 Million Naira from suspended Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu.

DAILY POST had reported that a report obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, from the Presidential Investigation Committee on the EFCC Federal Government Recovered Assets and Finances from May 2015 to May 2020, had claimed that N28 million payment was traced to one Falana.

It said, “The link to Magu was also established by the payment of N28 million to Falana who is a close associate and ally of the Acting Chairman,’’

Magu is currently being investigated for alleged re-looting of funds recovered by the EFCC, bribery and other allegations of corruption.

Reacting, Falana in a statement signed by his lawyer, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika (SAN) demanded a retraction of the claim.

According to him, the report was “damning against his entire career as a lawyer.

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The statement reads in part, “My client acknowledges that just as his anti-corruption activism has won him, friends, they have also bred enmity from those who see things from a different perspective and have therefore always tried to paint and present him (or anyone that strives or claims to be different) as someone that is also not free from the stains of corruption! Not long ago, these elements invented and spread through the media the lie that my client was a beneficiary of a property purchased from the EFCC.

When given the opportunity to prove the allegation, the publisher failed to take up the opportunity but apologized for the false publication. I am not too sure that your case will turn out different if you permit it to degenerate to the level of being sued.

“In the circumstance, my immediate instruction is to demand that you acknowledge your wrongdoing, expressly admit that what you imputed against my client was false, and apologize for your unprofessionalism and the damage you have caused to him.

“I do hope that you will, within the next 48 hours, comply with this gentlemanly request by publication on the front page of your newspaper. Failing compliance, my instruction is to issue a Writ in the tort of defamation in other to afford you an opportunity to prove what you imputed against my client’s character.”