Alleged N109b fraud: Ex-Accountant-General Idris returned about $900,000 in cash – witness

A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Maitama heard on Tuesday that the suspended Accountant-General of the Federation (AG-F), Ahmed Idris voluntary returned about $900,000 part of the public funds he allegedly diverted.

The court also heard how N84.7billion was taken from the $2.2billion due to the nine oil producing states and shared by some senior government officials.

An official of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Hayatudeen Ahmed disclosed these while testifying at the trial of Idris and three others.

The suspended Accountant General; his former Technical Assistant, Godfrey Olusegun Akindele; a director in the office of the AG-F, Mohammed Kudu Usman and a firm linked with Idris – Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited – are being tried on a 14-count charge bordering on stealing and criminal breach of trust to the tune of N109.

Ahmed, who testified as the first prosecution witness and was led in evidence by Rotimi Jacobs (SAN) gave details of how his team investigated a petition in which Idris was accused of abuse his office and compromise government’s platforms like the Treasury Single Account (TSA), the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIVMIS) among others.

The witness said when Idris was confronted with facts, “he (Idris) returned $900,000 less $100 ($899,900) voluntary, which has now formed part of exhibit in the case.

He said out of the N84.7b that was shared among some government officials, N32b has-been recovered so far.

The witness also told the court how Idris allegedly hired his ex-aide, Akindele as a consultant to distribute N84.3bilion out of the N84.7b.

He said Akindele later gave Idris N4.2b in appreciation for his engagement as the consultant to handle the distribution of the money.

The witness said: “After the petition was assigned to our team, investigation commenced. We wrote to banks, the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and other several government agencies.