Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports
Ahmed Idris, the former Accountant-General of the Federation, was granted bail by an Abuja High Court sitting in Maitama on Wednesday, six days after being remanded in prison.
The court adopted all of the terms and conditions of the administrative bail granted to the ex-AGF and his two co-defendants by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in a ruling delivered by Justice Adeyemi Ajayi.
“Regardless of the gravity of the allegations against them, the Defendants remain entitled to bail in accordance with due process and the supremacy of the law.”
“The EFCC did not state in any of its processes that the Defendants misbehaved while on administrative bail,” noted Justice Ajayi.
As a result, the court ordered that the defendants remain within the Federal Capital Territory FCT, Abuja, as part of the conditions for their bail release, and that they seek permission before leaving.
The defendants were also ordered by the court to sign an affidavit of assurance that they will comply with all of their bail conditions.
The defendants were ordered to surrender their international passports and promise not to obtain alternate passports while the case was pending.
The defendants will be held in Kuje prison until their bail conditions are met, according to Justice Ajayi.
The other defendants in the case are Godfrey Olusegun Akindele, Mohammed Kudu Usman, and Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited.
After being arraigned on July 22, the court remanded them in prison custody for allegedly diverting N109.4 billion in public funds.
They are charged with conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, and money laundering in the 14-count indictment.
The defendants, who had previously pleaded not guilty to the charge against them, had begged the court through their respective lawyers to release them on bail.
The ex-lawyer, AGF’s Chris Uche, SAN, assured the court that his client would appear in court to face the charge.
Uche, SAN, informed the court that the EFCC had previously granted administrative bail to his client, who he claimed flew into Abuja from Kano state as soon as he was informed of his arraignment.
“The Defendants were charged with bailable offenses, my lord.”
“They are charged under Section 115 of the Penal Code, and if convicted, they face up to seven years in prison with or without a fine.”
“They are also charged under Section 12 of the ICPC Act, which carries a sentence of seven years in prison.”
“As a result, my lord, these are not capital offenses for which bail is not available.”
“Moreover, having investigated and seen the gravity of the case, the Prosecution deemed it appropriate to release the Defendants on bail.” The charge’s weight did not increase overnight.
“As stated in our affidavit, the 1st Defendant has very responsible sureties who will take him on bail, and he irrevocably commits himself to submit himself to trial.”
“He made himself available by returning to Abuja from Kano as soon as he was summoned for this trial.”
“He also appeared before the EFCC on a regular basis, in accordance with the administrative bail that had previously been granted to him, which he never breached.”
“As a result, we are urging my lord to grant the Defendant bail on very liberal terms,” Uche, SAN, stated.
Similarly, counsel for the second and third defendants, Peter Abalaka and Mohammed Ndayako, SAN, pleaded with the court to release their clients on bail, pledging their availability for trial.
The defendants asked the court to disregard separate counter-affidavits filed by the EFCC opposing their bail release.
Their bail applications were based on Sections 35 and 36 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, as well as Sections 159 and 162 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA, 2015.
However, in a counter-affidavit filed on July 26, the EFCC urged the court to consider the nature and gravity of the charge, the cogency of the proof of evidence against the Defendants, and the severity of the punishment if they were found guilty.
Mr. Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, the EFCC’s lawyer, argued that, contrary to the Defendants’ position, the allegation of criminal breach of trust against them would result in 14 years in prison.
The anti-graft agency had previously announced that Aliyu Ahmed, a Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Finance whose name was originally included in count-11 of the charge, would appear as one of its witnesses in the case.
The Commission stated that Ahmed’s name was removed from the charge because of his decision to appear in court to reveal some of the alleged financial misdeeds of the ex-AGF.
Furthermore, the agency claimed to have confessional statements from both the former AGF and his co-defendants.
It stated that the extra-judicial statements were made in the presence of lawyers representing the Defendants, and that some of the witnesses, including contractors, admitted that the embattled former AGF paid them large sums of money for contracts they never completed.
Idris was appointed as AGF by President Muhammadu Buhari on June 25, 2015.
He was subsequently re-appointed for a second four-year term in June 2019, despite criticism from labor groups, who argued that he should have retired at the age of 60.
The EFCC arrested the ex-AGF on May 16 on suspicion of diverting and laundering over N80 billion from public coffers.
The EFCC stated that its investigations revealed that the ex-AGF cheated the system by using proxies, family members, and close associates to obtain funds through bogus consultancies, non-existent contracts, and other illegal activities.
It was also claimed that the money was laundered through real estate investments in Kano and Abuja.
Idris was apprehended in Kano after allegedly refusing to make himself available for questioning.
Meanwhile, some of the charges against him state: “That you, Ahmed Idris, between February and December, 2021 at Abuja in the Abuja Judicial Division of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, being a public servant by virtue of your position as the Accountant General of the Federation, accepted from Olusegun Akindele, a gratification in the aggregate sum of N15.1 billion, which sum was converted to United States Dollars by the said Olusegun Akindele and which s
“That you, Ahmed Idris, while serving as Accountant General of the Federation, and Godfrey Olusegun Akindele, while serving as Technical Assistant to the Accountant General of the Federation between February and November, 2021, in Abuja in the Abuja Judicial Division of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, in such capacity, entrusted with certain property, namely N84.390 billion, committed criminal breach of trust in respect of the said property, when you dishonest
