Usman Baba, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), has rejected the submissions of the police panel probing the N8 million bribery allegation against Abba Kyari, the suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police.
The special investigation panel, led by Joseph Egbunike, a Deputy Inspector General of Police, submitted its report two weeks after it was set up to probe Kyari.
During the panel sittings, Kyari denied collecting bribes from Abas Ramon, also known as Hushpuppi, and conniving with him to defraud a Qatari businessman.
The probing sessions with Kyari were cordial and relaxed because of his long-term relationship with Egbunike.
However, the Egbunike-led panel’s report was rejected by the IGP for being too lenient on Kyari, according to Punch.
“The panel concluded its investigation and submitted its report to the IG last Thursday or Friday but the IGP rejected it,” the paper quoted a source familiar with the activities of the panel as saying. “He was not comfortable with the panel’s findings and recommendations.”
The US District Court of Central California ordered the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to track Kyari down for participating in a multi-million dollar fraud. Ramon Abbas, aka Hushpuppi, allegedly paid Kyari up to N8 million to arrest and jail a certain Chibuzo Vincent.
Although he denied having a hand in the fraud, he had been under fire since the allegations were made. He has also lost his position as Head of the Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT).
On August 7, 2021, an online newspaper had reported that Egbunike, head of the police panel probing Kyari, had joined other police chiefs to approve more than N1billion for sham police transit camps project in Benue, Bauchi, Plateau, Katsina and Kano State.
The report raised concerns over the credibility of a probe panel led by a corrupt official.
