Court revokes bail of co-defendant in alleged N109b fraud involving ex-AGF Idris

Tuesday, one of the defendants in Ahmed Idris’s trial—a former federation accountant-general—was denied bail by Justice Yusuf Halilu of the Maitama Division of the FCT High Court. The defendants were accused of illegally diverting N109.5 million in public monies.

The judge revoked Geoffrey Olusegun Akindele’s bail when he failed to show up in court to continue the trial.

In addition to Mohammed Kudu Usman and Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited, Mr. Akindele—the second defendant in the CR/199/2022 case—and Idris are also on trial.

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He faces 14 charges from the EFCC alleging that he stole and fraudulently diverted N109.5 billion in public funds. As the federation’s accountant-general, Mr. Idris was charged with, among other things, collecting a gratuity of N15,136,221,921.46 from Mr. Akindele, the second defendant, between February and December 2021.

The prosecution claims that the funds were used to expedite the payment of 13% derivation to nine oil-producing states in the federation via the office of the accountant general of the federation, rather than as part of Idris’s compensation.

According to the EFCC, they violated section 155 of the Penal Code Act, Cap 533 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990, and were thus subject to punishment.

The accused individuals, Messrs. Idris and Akindele, who work as the technical assistant to the federation’s accountant-general, are accused of engaging in criminal activity related to breach of trust. Specifically, they are accused of receiving N84,390,000,000 in property between February and November 2021 through dishonest means from the federal government via Mr. Akindele, who operates under the name Olusegun Akindele & Co.

According to the EFCC, this constitutes an offence for which the first and second defendants were charged under Section 315 of the Penal Code Act, Cap 532 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria.

However, the defendants entered a not guilty plea to the accusations that the anti-corruption agency had brought against them.

Mr. Akindele was not present in court when the case was called during the matter’s Tuesday resumed hearing, but Messrs. Idris and Usman were.

The judge insisted on cancelling the second defendant’s bail despite pleas from Mr. Akindele’s attorney, S.E. Adino, that his client was en route to court and that he (Mr. Akindele) was always there to face trial.

Following Mr. Adino’s statement, the judge declared that if a defendant is granted bail by the court, they are required to return the favour by appearing in court for their trial.

He went on to say that by declining to appear in court, Mr. Akindele had not demonstrated good character or conduct.

The judge declared, “The second defendant had abused the terms of his bail.”

The judge then revoked his bail and commanded the EFCC and the commissioner of the FCT police to detain Mr. Akindele and bring him before the court on the following postponed date.

He then postponed the matter until February 1, 2024, for a final hearing.

Oluwaleke Atolagbe, the prosecuting attorney, had earlier told the court that while the prosecution had gotten a letter from Mr. Idris’s attorney, it had not received one from Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited’s attorney.

Mr. Atolagbe stated that none of the capable solicitors in Mr. Idris’s counsel’s office had made any announcement on the former federation accountant-general’s attendance. He went on to say, “This is not fair on the prosecution,” after observing two solicitors from the office in court yesterday morning. Undoubtedly, this is an attempt to drag out the trial.