• As New U.S. sanctions hit 8 North Korean banks, 26 bank workers

At least 17 suits concerning the propriety or otherwise of Mr. Ibrahim Magu remaining as the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have been filed before various divisions of the Federal High Court, it was learnt on Tuesday.

Lawyers who appeared before Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court in Abuja when one of the cases came up on Tuesday, said a related case was filed in the Yola division of the court in Adamawa State, while there was another in the Kano division, Kano State.

Majority of the cases were said to be pending before various judges of the Abuja division of the court.

It was learnt that some of the 17 cases were in support of Magu, while the rest sought Magu’s removal from office on the grounds that he had been rejected by the Senate.

Meanwhile, when one of the pro-Magu suits came up before Justice Kolawole on Tuesday, two lawyers representing two different law firms presented separate letters of engagement to represent the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, and the Senate.

While Mr. S.O Alhassan presented a letter engaging his law firm in June, Mr. Peter Abang presented a letter briefing his law firm in August.

The judge directed the two lawyers to sort out the conflicting briefs they got from the Senate before the next hearing date for the particular suit.

The particular suit was instituted by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Jibrin Okutepa, who was represented on Tuesday by Mr. Ocholi Okutepa.

In the meantime, the Trump administration is using new sanctions authority to punish eight North Korean banks and 26 bank workers living abroad.

The sanctions rely on an executive order President Donald Trump signed last week to target North Korea’s access to the international banking system. They come as the United Nations has also recently passed its toughest sanctions package targeting North Korea.

The eight banks are all in North Korea. The Treasury Department says the 26 individuals are North Korean nationals employed by those banks who work in Russia, China, Libya and the United Arab Emirates.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says the U.S. is targeting those “across the globe” who facilitate financial transactions for North Korea. He says it’s part of the effort to isolate North Korea over its nuclear weapons program.

Citizen with additional report from MSN