The Abuja High Court has adjourned the trial of the suspended Accountant-General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, and three others until May 11.
Mr. Idris was dragged to court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) alongside Geoffrey Olusegun Akindele, Mohammed Kudu Usman, and Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited on a 14-count charge, bordering on diversion of public funds to the tune of N109.5 billion.
Justice Yusuf Halilu adjourned the trial at the instance of the prosecution.
At the last sitting on November 23, 2022, counsel for the defendants objected to the tendering of the statements made by their clients at the EFCC headquarters.
The prosecution had sought to tender the statements through the first prosecution witness (PW1), Hayatudeen Ahmed, an operative with the anti-graft agency.
The counsel argued that the statements, which were not voluntarily recorded, violated sections 15 and 17 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015, adding that they were obtained without the defendants’ lawyers.
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Mr Idris’s counsel Chris Uche, SAN, told the court that the AGF’s statement was taken without his lawyer present.
The judge ordered trial-within-trial following arguments on the admissibility of the statements based on their voluntariness.
At the resumed sitting, the prosecution brought its first witness (PW1), Ahmed, in the trial-within-trial.
The EFCC counsel, Oluwaleke Atolegbe, told the court that the first defendant made about 13 statements.
The witness told the court that the statement of the first defendant, dated January 22, 2022, was made by him.
“He got to know there was an investigation on the fourth defendant. And said he wanted to make submissions regarding him.
“I had a brief interview with him as the investigation was at the preliminary stage. We informed him that whatever we discussed must be in writing.
“We asked if he came with a lawyer, but he insisted he could write his statement without a lawyer.
“After the cautionary word was read to him, he said he understood it, and he wrote his name and signed,” he told the court.
Mr. Ahmed told the court that after the January statement, there was a need to investigate the emerging facts.
He added that operatives called the phone number on the statement and sent text messages, but there was no response, and then made an arrest on May 16, 2022.
Mr. Ahmed said Mr. Idris was with his security detail on May 17, 2022, and was interviewed on the new facts that emerged from the previous day.
He said that on May 23, 2022, May 25 and 26, June 1, June 6, 10, and 27, the first defendant came with someone on each occasion as a witness.
When the prosecution was about to ask the witness on July 5, 2022, statement, his counsel, Mr. Uche, objected, saying that the defendants were not served with copies.
At this point, Mr Alolegbe, for the prosecution, prayed the court to give them an adjournment to enable them to serve the defendants with the statements they said they didn’t have.
EFCC alleged that Mr. Idris, among others, accepted gratification between February and December 2021 while being a public servant by his position as Accountant-General of the Federation.
(NAN)
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