Ex-AGF Ahmed Idris Opens Defence In N109.5 Billion Fraud Case, Alleges EFCC Coerced Statements Without Lawyer

A former Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Ahmed Idris, on Tuesday, opened his defence in a trial-within-trial at the Abuja High Court over allegations of fraud brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Idris is being prosecuted alongside Geoffrey Akindele, Mohammed Usman, and Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited on a 14-count charge for allegedly diverting public funds amounting to N109.5 billion.

Testifying before Justice Yusuf Halilu, Idris stated that he made 16 statements during the EFCC investigation, but the prosecution only sought to tender 13 of them as evidence.

He revealed that his first statement was made on January 22, 2022, when he voluntarily went to the EFCC headquarters to meet the then EFCC Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa.

“I was made to write a statement without my lawyer present,” Idris told the court. “I objected, but one EFCC operative, Hayatudeen, insisted that I give a statement if I wanted my freedom.”

He further claimed that he was compelled to provide the statement and that there was no video recording of the session, which continued until 2:00 a.m.

Idris also described his interrogation between May 17 and May 21, 2022, as “very rigorous” and said he remained in custody without bail.

He alleged that during his detention, he was taken to the EFCC chairman’s office three times, where Bawa told him that he was not the real target of the investigation.

“He told me that the target was the former Minister of Finance,” Idris claimed.

Following Idris’ testimony, Justice Yusuf Halilu adjourned the case until May 7 for the continuation of the trial-within-trial.