Court Admits Evidence Against Ex-Accountant General Idris In N109bn Fraud Trial-Within-Trial

A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Maitama, Abuja, presided by Justice Yusuf Halilu, on Thursday, admitted new evidence against a former Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Ahmed Idris in a trial-within-trial.

Recall THE WHISTLER reported that Idris was arrested on 16th May 2022 by the operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for diversion of funds and money laundering.

He was subsequently arraigned on 22nd July 2022 on 14-count charges before Justice Adeyemi Ajayi.

He is standing trial alongside three others: his company, Mr. Godfrey Olusegun Akindele and Mohammed Kudu Usman.

Idris, first defendant in the 14-count charge bordering on gratification, abuse of office and money laundering to the tune of over N109 billion, in a sudden twist, claimed that the EFCC obtained his statement under duress.

This then necessitated a trial-within-trial to determine the veracity of his claim.

During today’s sitting, Hayatuddeen Ahmad, First Prosecution Witness (PW1), informed the court that Idris freely volunteered his statement to the Commission and was neither pressured nor deceived to do so.

Also contrary to Idris’s claim, the PW1 disclosed that at no time was the defendant promised that he would not be prosecuted by the Commission.

He said: “There was no such deception of promise made to the first defendant. After he was cautioned, he was told that the matter would end up in court.

“The defendant came with his legal representative in the person of Gbenga Adeyemi, who witnessed the statement from beginning to the end. He signed to show that he understood the cautionary statement.”

Speaking further, the witness claimed that Idris’s statement “was recorded in the Chairman’s Monitoring Unit, (CMU), with a functional recording system and a chair for the convenience of the defendant. There was a table, light and the rest room.”

He stated that “after the first defendant reported, cautionary words were written and administered to him, which he read and understood. The additional statement was in continuation of some of the issues involving investigation.”

The witness also disclosed that “there was an interview session involving the first, second and third defendants at the Chairman’s Monitoring Unit, CMU, where they discussed issues regarding the investigation. There was a video recording to buttress this issue to show how calm and peaceful the atmosphere of the interview at the Chairman’s Monitoring Unit, CMU was.”

He therefore identified the cautionary statement made by the first defendant, dated 25th May 2022 and witnessed by his lawyer and other statements 26th dated May; 31st May; 1st June; 6th June 10th and 27th June 2022.

The witness narrated that the recording was done using his official Samsung mobile phone, after which the video was processed into a DVD plate. And as the video was played in court, he easily identified the defendants.

He said: “I can identify them, the gentleman seated in white is the third defendant, while the gentleman wearing grey “agbada” is the first defendant. The gentleman wearing a blue caftan is the second defendant. The person interacting with them is Mahmud Tukur, my immediate supervisor, who was the head of CMU 2.”

He also added that Tukur and Mubarak Isa were also witnesses to the taking of Idris’s statements. The judge admitted the DVD in evidence, marked as “TWT-A”, trial-within-trial, Exhibit A.

Ahmad added that the first, second and third defendants benefitted from a non-existent consultancy from the Office of the Accountant General, while the first defendant was in charge, stating that it was the sharing formula of the money they illegally got was what was discussed in the video.

After the witness was cross-examined by counsel to the first defendant, Justice Halilu adjourned the matter till 20th March 2024 for continuation of the trial-within-trial.