High Court Revokes Bail Granted Ex-Accountant General, Idris’ Co-defendant

A Federal Capital Territory, FCT, High Court sitting in Maitama has revoked the bail granted to Mohammed Usman, the third defendant in the 14-count money laundering charge filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, against former Accountant-General of the Federation, AGF, Ahmed Idris.

 

The EFCC said Usman, who was the Director of the Federation Account, and one Godfrey Olusegun Akindele, in collusion with the former AGF, diverted N109.4 billion in public funds through the account of a company, Gezawa Commodity Market & Exchange Limited, which is the third defendant in the case.

 

Vanguard reports that following the failure of the third defendant to appear in court on time, trial Justice Adeyemi Ajayi revoked his bail on Tuesday.

 

Usman was not present when the trial Judge entered the courtroom around 9:20 a.m., but his lawyer, Ibrahim Ishaku, SAN, informed the court that he was stuck in traffic.

 

Dissatisfied with the explanation, Justice Ajayi revoked the defendant’s bail and ordered his incarceration at the Kuje prison.

 

It will be remembered that on July 28, the court granted the former AGF bail in the sum of N5 billion with two sureties, one of whom must be a director and the other a permanent secretary.

 

The court also granted bail to the second and third defendants in the sum of N2 billion each, with two sureties who must be directors.

 

Justice Ajayi stated that she was inclined to adopt all of the terms and conditions of the EFCC’s previous administrative bail granted to the defendants.

 

As part of the conditions, the defendants were barred from leaving Abuja, even though they were ordered to surrender their international passports and agree not to obtain alternate passports while the case was pending.

 

The defendants were also ordered to sign an affidavit of assurance that they would follow all of their bail conditions.

 

Mr. Hayatudeen Ahmed, the first prosecution witness, testified before the court about how the defendants allegedly stole N84.7 billion out of $2.2 billion meant for nine oil-producing states.

 

The witness, an investigative officer, stated that the ex-AGF was arrested as a result of an investigation into a petition filed against him by the Federal Treasury Concerned Staff Association.

 

He told the court that an investigation revealed that after the Federal Account Allocation Committee, FAAC, approved $2.2 billion for the nine oil-producing states, the defendants secretly diverted N84.7 billion out of it under the guise of consultant settlements.

 

He told the court that a company founded by the second defendant, Akindele, a former AGF’s technical assistant, was approved as the sole consultant for the deal.

 

According to the witness, the defendants withdrew funds from FAAC’s Escrow account and distributed them to themselves and others, including a former governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, and a former deputy governor of Abia State, Chuks Akomas.

 

He testified in court that his team of investigators discovered that the former AGF used his own share of the loot to buy properties such as the Gezawa Commodity & Exchange Market Ltd, Gezawa Integrated Farms Ltd, and Kano City Mall, some of which he claimed were acquired in the name of the former AGF.

 

Led in evidence by EFCC lawyer, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, the PW-1, said his team had in the course of the investigation, interrogated several persons, including a Kano-based Bureau-de-Change operator, Beta. I. Kurah, whom he said admitted that he received over N1.3bn from the former AGF, all in cash and in US dollars.

 

He said the BDC operator equally revealed that he made several payments, including the sum of N208m, into the account of Gezawa Commodity & Exchange Market Ltd, in Jaiz Bank.