Alleged N109 billion fraud: Ex-Accountant General Ahmed Idris' trial stalled
Proceedings in the trial of the suspended Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Ahmed Idris, for an alleged N109 billion money laundering prosecution were stalled on Wednesday.
Mr. Idris and three others - Godfrey Olusegun Akindele, Mohammed Usman and Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited - are on trial in the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)
But Wednesday's proceedings could not proceed due to a missing statement made by Mr. Idris to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) during the investigation.
The defendants were first brought before O A. Adeyemi-Ajayi, but they were brought again last October before another judge, Halilu Yusuf.
The statement dated July 5, 2022 could not be found in the court file nor in that of the EFCC and the defense team.
When the hearing resumed on Wednesday, EFCC lawyer Oluwaleke Atolagbe began the trial in the trial of Mr. Idris, following the suspended AGF's refusal to voluntarily make certain of his statements to the anti-corruption agency.
Mr. Idris insists that the key statements proposed by the EFCC to be used against him in the alleged corruption charges were made under duress.
Because of the allegation, the judge, Mr. Yusuf, ordered a trial in the trial to authenticate the allegations.
How the missing statement stalled the hearing
The EFCC had called one of its witnesses, Hayatudeen Suleiman, to examine 13 statements taken from Mr. Idris.
But the day's proceedings were interrupted when it was discovered that the statement dated July 5, 2022 was missing.
The missing statement would be essential to the entire trial.
The problem was compounded when the anti-corruption agency could not find the statement in its own file.
Mr. Idris' lawyer, Chris Uche, told the court that the missing statement was not part of the prosecution statements given to him.
Mr. Uche, a senior lawyer from Nigeria (SAN), accused the EFCC of deleting certain documents, of which the missing may be one.
"We arrived fully prepared for this matter to be dealt with in a substantial way, but unfortunately the EFCC seem to be setting us back by not getting their house in order.
“If this was a civil case, I would have asked for a cost of 5 million naira for our precious time wasted by the prosecution,” Mr Uche said.
Subsequently, counsel for the EFCC requested an adjournment to allow him to search for the missing statement and serve it on the accused as required by law.
Granting the request, the judge adjourned the case until May 11 for the continuation of the trial in the trial.
BackgroundThe anti-corruption agency re-indicted the defendants on October 27, 2022, on a 13-count charge bordering on the alleged embezzlement of N109 billion.
Mr. Idris and his co-defendants were first arraigned on July 22, 2022, before Mr. Ajayi, who was a vacation judge.
In one of the charges, the EFCC said that between February and December 2021, Mr. Idris accepted from Mr. Akindele a gratuity of N15.1 billion, which served as a reason for expediting the payment of a 13% diversion to the Federation's nine oil-producing states, through the office of the Federation Accountant General.
READ ALSO: The many failures of the 2023 general elections, by Tope Fasua...
Proceedings in the trial of the suspended Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Ahmed Idris, for an alleged N109 billion money laundering prosecution were stalled on Wednesday.
Mr. Idris and three others - Godfrey Olusegun Akindele, Mohammed Usman and Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited - are on trial in the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)
But Wednesday's proceedings could not proceed due to a missing statement made by Mr. Idris to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) during the investigation.
The defendants were first brought before O A. Adeyemi-Ajayi, but they were brought again last October before another judge, Halilu Yusuf.
The statement dated July 5, 2022 could not be found in the court file nor in that of the EFCC and the defense team.
When the hearing resumed on Wednesday, EFCC lawyer Oluwaleke Atolagbe began the trial in the trial of Mr. Idris, following the suspended AGF's refusal to voluntarily make certain of his statements to the anti-corruption agency.
Mr. Idris insists that the key statements proposed by the EFCC to be used against him in the alleged corruption charges were made under duress.
Because of the allegation, the judge, Mr. Yusuf, ordered a trial in the trial to authenticate the allegations.
How the missing statement stalled the hearing
The EFCC had called one of its witnesses, Hayatudeen Suleiman, to examine 13 statements taken from Mr. Idris.
But the day's proceedings were interrupted when it was discovered that the statement dated July 5, 2022 was missing.
The missing statement would be essential to the entire trial.
The problem was compounded when the anti-corruption agency could not find the statement in its own file.
Mr. Idris' lawyer, Chris Uche, told the court that the missing statement was not part of the prosecution statements given to him.
Mr. Uche, a senior lawyer from Nigeria (SAN), accused the EFCC of deleting certain documents, of which the missing may be one.
"We arrived fully prepared for this matter to be dealt with in a substantial way, but unfortunately the EFCC seem to be setting us back by not getting their house in order.
“If this was a civil case, I would have asked for a cost of 5 million naira for our precious time wasted by the prosecution,” Mr Uche said.
Subsequently, counsel for the EFCC requested an adjournment to allow him to search for the missing statement and serve it on the accused as required by law.
Granting the request, the judge adjourned the case until May 11 for the continuation of the trial in the trial.
BackgroundThe anti-corruption agency re-indicted the defendants on October 27, 2022, on a 13-count charge bordering on the alleged embezzlement of N109 billion.
Mr. Idris and his co-defendants were first arraigned on July 22, 2022, before Mr. Ajayi, who was a vacation judge.
In one of the charges, the EFCC said that between February and December 2021, Mr. Idris accepted from Mr. Akindele a gratuity of N15.1 billion, which served as a reason for expediting the payment of a 13% diversion to the Federation's nine oil-producing states, through the office of the Federation Accountant General.
READ ALSO: The many failures of the 2023 general elections, by Tope Fasua...What's Your Reaction?
