Court adjourns N109.5bn fraud trial of ex-AGF Ahmed Idris to October 13

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Maitama, Abuja, presided over by Justice Yusuf Halilu, on Wednesday adjourned the trial-within-trial in the alleged N109.5 billion fraud case involving former Accountant-General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, until October 13, 2026, for the adoption of final written addresses.

Idris is being prosecuted 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 the alleged stealing and fraudulent diversion of public funds amounting to N109.5 billion.

The court had ordered the trial-within-trial on November 22, 2022, following an application by Idris’ counsel, Chief Chris Uche (SAN), who argued that statements made by his client to the EFCC were obtained through deception and inducement.

At Wednesday’s proceedings, the defence called Hajiya Safiya Idris as its witness. Testifying before the court, Safiya, who described Idris as someone she regarded “like a father,” recounted visiting the EFCC headquarters on June 6, 2022, where she sought access to the former Accountant-General.

She told the court that after waiting for several hours, she was eventually allowed into an office where Idris was with two EFCC officers identified as Hayatu and Mahmud. According to her, the officers requested that she sign as a witness to a statement being written by the defendant.

Safiya confirmed that the signature and handwriting on the statement shown to her belonged to her and explained that she signed the document after being assured that Idris would be released. “I was told he wasn’t in the cell but in the main building. I went there to see if I would be able to see him but I wasn’t allowed. We waited for a long time before I was eventually allowed to enter the office that he was in,” she said.

Under cross-examination by prosecution counsel A.O. Atolagbe, the witness admitted that she was neither invited nor investigated by the EFCC and had visited the Commission voluntarily. She also stated that the statement had already been written before she entered the office and that she only signed it afterward. However, she maintained that she was not lying when she wrote that the statement was taken in her presence.

Following the conclusion of her testimony and the discharge of the witness, Uche informed the court that the defence was closing its case in the trial-within-trial. Justice Halilu subsequently adjourned the matter until October 13, 2026, for the adoption of final written addresses.