Alleged N109bn Fraud: Nigerian High Court remands suspended Accountant-General in Kuje prison
A Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja has ordered that the suspended Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, be remanded in Kuje Correctional Centre pending the hearing and determination of his bail application.
Justice Njideka Nwosu-Iheme gave the order on Friday while adjourning the hearing on the bail application to Wednesday, July 27.
Mr Idris and his co-defendants were arraigned before Justice Adeyemi Ajayi by the EFCC on Friday following 14 counts charges of stealing and criminal breach of trust to the tune of N109, 485,572,691.9.
Others arraigned with him are Godfrey Olusegun Akindele, Mohammed Kudu Usman, and a firm — Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited which had earlier pleaded not guilty to the 14-count charge leveled against them by the EFCC.
The anti-graft agency had on May 16 announced the arrest of Idris who was the Accountant General at the time after he failed to respond to invitations by the commission to answer questions over the allegation of N80 billion fraud.
In the initial statement, the anti-graft agency had explained that Idris was for an alleged diversion and laundering of N80 billion. But about two weeks later, the EFCC uncovered another N90 billion alleged fraud involving the suspended Accountant-General.
The development forced the Minister of Finance, Ahmed Zainab, to suspend him indefinitely without pay pending the conclusion of the corruption investigations.
