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MAGU: Justice Salami forced to speak on anti-Buhari statement he allegedly made

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6 years ago

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September 29, 2020

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The secret presidential panel investigating the EFCC and its suspended boss Ibrahim Magu is now having to defend its secrecy as its chairman Justice Ayo Salami is denying a statement of frustration credited to him.

Lawyers defending Magu, according to the Premium Times, said Salami said he regretted accepting the chairmanship of the panel.

But he denied the statement.

“I have no cause to express any regret over my chairmanship of the commission,” the retired justice wrote in a statement he personally signed and sent to journalists.

This was about the first time the secret panel would be responding officially to newsmen.

The panel, with no spokesperson or any media relations officer, has been barring journalists from covering the proceeding.

Many Nigerians, including President Muhammadu Buharis associates, have dismissed the Salami panel as partial and manipulated by Justice Minister Abubakara Malami who instigated the probe.

Malami, implicated in the probe, has refused to appear before the panel.

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Vote-buying remains a major concern One of the strongest warnings from Osun was the continued presence of vote-buying and voter inducement. Yiaga Africa said the results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were consistent with its independent statistical projections, but cautioned that this did not remove concerns about the integrity of voters' choices amid reports of vote-buying and inducement. The concern is particularly significant ahead of 2027, when political competition will take place nationwide and involve presidential, National Assembly and state-level contests. The International Republican Institute (IRI), following a pre-election assessment mission conducted in August, identified monetised political competition, election-related violence, insecurity and declining public confidence in INEC among the structural challenges facing the 2027 elections. 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