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.