Justice Yusuf Halilu of the Federal Capital Territory High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja, has 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 adoption of final written addresses.
Idris is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission alongside Geoffrey Olusegun Akindele, Mohammed Kudu Usman and Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited on a 14-count charge bordering on 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 challenged the admissibility of statements made by his client to the EFCC.
Uche had argued that the statements were allegedly obtained through deception and inducement.
At Wednesday’s proceedings, Uche informed the court that the matter was slated for continuation of the trial-within-trial and that the defence had a witness to present.
The defence subsequently called Hajiya Safiya Idris as its witness.
Led in evidence by Uche, Safiya told the court that she resides at Efab Estate, Guzape, Abuja, and had a long-standing family relationship with Idris, whom she described as someone she regarded “like a father.”
Narrating what happened on June 6, 2022, Safiya said she went to the EFCC headquarters in Abuja to see Idris but was initially told that he was not in the cell, but in the main building.
“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 told the court.
According to her, when she was eventually allowed into the office, two EFCC officers identified as Hayatu and Mahmud asked her to sign as a witness to a statement allegedly being written by Idris.
When shown the statement in court, Safiya confirmed that both the signature and handwriting on the document were hers.
She explained that she wrote that the statement was taken in her presence because she had been assured that Idris would be released.
Under cross-examination by prosecution counsel, A.O. Atolagbe, the witness admitted that she was neither invited nor investigated by the EFCC and had gone to the commission on her own.
She further alleged that Idris had already completed the statement before she was allowed into the office and that she only signed after the statement had been concluded.
Asked whether the former Accountant-General knew she was at the EFCC before she entered the office, Safiya answered in the negative, saying Idris only became aware of her presence when she was called in to sign the document.
The prosecution also referred her to a portion of the June 6, 2022 statement, which read: “In addition to my last statement, I wish to state that I am writing this statement in the presence of Hajiya Idris Safiya.”
When asked whether that portion had been written before she entered the interrogation room, the witness said she could not determine at what stage it was written.
She also confirmed that her name did not appear on any of the other statements made by Idris because she was not present when those statements were taken.
The prosecution further asked why she did not lodge any complaint after signing the statement if she felt compelled to do so. Safiya admitted that she made no complaint and agreed that she was under no obligation to write anything for the EFCC since she was not under investigation.
She, however, maintained that she was not lying when she wrote that the statement was taken in her presence.
After the conclusion of her testimony and with no further questions from the prosecution, the witness was discharged.
Uche thereafter 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 adoption of final written addresses.
The defendants have not been convicted of the allegations and remain presumed innocent until proven guilty by the court.
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