N30bn recovered so far from suspended Accountant-Gen Ahmed Idris

Friday, 16 December 2022 05:52

N30bn recovered so far from suspended Accountant-Gen Ahmed Idris - EFCC

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Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it has recovered over N30 billion from the suspended Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Ahmed Idris, who is facing corruption charges.

Chairman of the commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, said this during the 62nd Ministerial Media Briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Thursday.

The event was streamed live on YouTube with viewers given the opportunity to ask questions from the EFCC chair.

“On the case of the former Accountant General of the Federation Idris Ahmed, we at the EFCC have recovered N30 billion from him,” he said.

The EFCC is prosecuting Idris and other co-defendants over alleged N109 billion fraud at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), in Maitama, Abuja.

His co-defendants are Godfrey Olusegun Akindele, Mohammed Usman and Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited.

They face 14 charges of stealing and criminal breach of trust involving N109 billion in public funds.

The defendants were granted bail on 28 July by justice J.O Adeyemi-Ajayi. The judge said that the defendants were entitled to bail in spite of the allegations levelled against them.

Previous recovery

It is unclear if the N30 billion the EFCC chair said had been recovered from Idris covered multi-billion naira assets traced to and recovered from him in the wake of his arrest.

The assets, mostly in Kano, his home state in Nigeria’s northwestern region, are said to be worth billions of naira, significantly more than his monthly salary as a public officer.

Part of the assets is the Gezawa Commodity Market in Kano State.

One of the assets – Ultra-Modern Mall, located in Kano State – is said to be worth more than N700 million.

Pictures obtained showed the mall was sited on a large expanse of land.

However, while the major exterior works have been perfected, work is still ongoing inside with facilities like elevators and escalators being installed.

The accountant-general had in 2021 launched Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited which he had openly admitted to owning.