Alleged N109 Billion Fraud: Ex-AGF Idris opens defence in trial-within-trial

A former Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Ahmed Idris, opened his defence on Tuesday in the trial-within-trial in the Abuja High Court.
Mr Idris was dragged before Justice Yusuf Halilu by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) alongside Geoffrey Akindele, Mohammed Usman and Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited.
The EFCC dragged them on a 14-count charge, alleging that they fraudulently diverted public funds to the tune of N109.5 billion.
Testifying, Mr Idris told the court that he made 16 statements on different days during the EFCC’s investigation, but the prosecution only sought to tender 13 of them.
The former minister said he made the first statement on January 22, 2022, when he went to the EFCC headquarters to see the former EFCC Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa.
” I was made to write a statement without my lawyer present,” said Mr Idris. “I objected, but one Hayatudeen (EFCC operative) insisted that I give a statement if I want my freedom.”
” I had to give that statement to get that freedom to leave.”
He added, ”To the best of my knowledge, there was no video recording of what transpired that day.”
Mr Idris said the statement recording ended around 2:00 a.m.
He said he was in custody and was not released on bail.
Mr Idris alleged that the interrogations were very rigorous between May 17 and May 21, 2022.
He said that while being detained by EFCC, he was taken to the chairman’s office on three occasions, and the then chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, had told him he was not the target.
”He told me that the target was the former Minister of Finance,” he said.
Justice Yusuf Halilu adjourned until May 7 for the continuation of the trial-within-trial.
(NAN)
We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.
More from Peoples Gazette

Agriculture
FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology
The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices

Politics
Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku
“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”

Heading 1
Asaba Incident: NCAA grounds aircraft, bans pilots from flying in Nigeria’s airspace amid probe
Mr Najomo expressed surprise over the circumstances surrounding the incident.

States
Lagos man in court for alleged N3 million Kuwait work visa fraud
The prosecutor said the offences contravene the provisions of sections 287, 314 and 411, of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

NationWide
NBC expands FreeTV access to mobile devices
The National Broadcasting Commission says Nigerians can now access Free TV services on mobile devices through a dedicated application, alongside satellite decoders.

Hot news Home top
Court orders ex-AGF Abubakar Malami to forfeit 48 property to FG
Justice Abdulmalik held that Mr Malami failed to show that the property were acquired through lawful sources.

Heading 2
Jamaican reggae star Fantan Mojah dies at 49
In a tribute, Ub40 Ali Campbell, described Mr Mojah’s demise as a sad development.

Heading 5
Oyo Hostages’ Release: Tinubu gave us Christmas in July, says Moyo Okediji
Mr Okediji, a professor of Art and Art History at the University of Texas, Austin, lauded the approach of President Bola Tinubu’s administration in rescuing the captives.





