Ex-AG-F Idris returned $900,000 cash, witness tells court – Newstrends
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Ex-AG-F Idris returned $900,000 cash, witness tells court

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Suspended Accountant-General of the Federation (AG-F), Ahmed Idris

A HIGH Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Maitama heard yesterday that the suspended Accountant-General of the Federation (AG-F), Ahmed Idris, voluntarily returned about $900,000 in cash.

The witness said the returned cash was part of the public funds allegedly diverted by the embattled AG-F.

Idris is standing trial for alleged missing N109 billion public funds under his watch.

The court also heard how N84.7 billion was taken from the $2.2 billion due to the nine oil-producing states, and shared by some senior government officials.

An official of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Hayatudeen Ahmed, made the disclosure while testifying at the trial of Idris and three others.

The suspended accountant-general; his former Technical Assistant, Godfrey Olusegun Akindele; a director in the Office of the AG-F, Mohammed Kudu Usman, and a firm linked with Idris – Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited – are being tried on a 14-count charge of stealing and criminal breach of trust to the tune of N109 billion.

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Ahmed, who testified as the first prosecution witness, was led in evidence by Rotimi Jacobs (SAN). He gave details of how his team investigated a petition in which Idris was accused of abuse of his office and compromised government’s platforms, such as the Treasury Single Account (TSA), the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIVMIS), among others.

The witness said when Idris was confronted with facts, “he (Idris) returned $900,000, less $100 ($899,900) voluntarily, which has now formed part of exhibit in the case.

He said out of the N84.7 billion that was shared among some government officials, N32 billion has been recovered so far.

The witness also told the court how Idris allegedly hired his ex-aide, Akindele, as a consultant to distribute N84.3 bilion out of the N84.7 billion.

He said Akindele later gave Idris N4.2b in appreciation for his engagement as the consultant to handle the distribution of the money.

The witness said: “After the petition was assigned to our team, investigation commenced. We wrote to banks, the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and other government agencies.

“From analysis of bank documents received, we discovered that a Baita Kura of B. I. Kura Enterprises, a bureau de change operator, made several deposits of money amounting to N280 million between 2019 and 2021 into the account of the fourth defendant – Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Ltd.

“Based on this finding, Baita was invited. He admitted in his statement that those monies that he paid into the first defendant’s (Idris’) account, were given to him by the first defendant.

“We discovered that the payments made were on the instruction of the first defendant.

“We also discovered from other bank statements analysis that a certain Architect Mustapha Muktar of Marcs and Construction Ltd received various sums from Baita Kura, amounting to about N866 million.

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“Based on this, we invited Architect Mustapha, who gave statement and explained that the money he received from Baita were on the instruction of the first defendant.”

The witness claimed Mustapha said Idris asked him to use the money for the construction of the Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange in Gezawa Town, Kano.

He said his team learnt of the agitation by the nine oil producing states about the lack of deductions of 13 per cent derivation accrued to them from the Excess Crude Account (ECA).

The witness added: “It was discovered further that this agitation was tabled before the Post-mortem sub-committee of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).

“The committee deliberated on the request and came up with a figure of about $2.2b as what was due to the nine oil-producing states. And, that deductions for this payment would be made over a 60-month period.

“A total of 11.5 per cent of the total sum, which is equivalent N84.7 billion, was set aside as facilitation for some public officials to approve and release the request. This was done under the guise of consultancy.

“The services of Olusegun Akindele & Co, a firm belonging to the second defendant (Akindele), was used for this purpose.

“The proprietor of Olusegun Akindele & Co is the second defendant – Godfrey Olusegun Akindele, who was until recently, a staff of the office of the AG-F and a technical assistant to the first defendant.

“The account of Olusegun Akindele & Co received the cumulative sum of N84.3 billion, representing 9.8 per cent, less taxes from the 11.5 per cent that was set aside earlier.

“He received the money in his First Bank account, from the FAAC withheld Escrow account, under the control of the first and third defendants (Idris and Usman).

“The third defendant is Mohammed Kudu Usman, a former director in the office of the AG-F.

“When the statement of account of Olusegun Akindele & Co was received, we analysed it and found that after the receipt of N84.3 billion, it was shared among five groups.

“The first group was the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) group, represented by a commissioner in the commission, by name Chris Akumas. It received 2.2 per cent out of 9.8 per cent, which amounted to N18.7 billion.

“After the second defendant received the money, he converted the amount to United States (U.S.) dollars and handed same to Chris Akumas for members of that group.

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“The second group is the accountant-general group, represented by the first defendant, which received N18.1 billion, equivalent of 2.1 per cent

“Some of these funds were also converted to U.S. dollars and handed to the first defendant. From the second group, the third defendant received about N1.8b equivalent in U.S. dollars.

“The third group is that of the Commissioners of Finance of the nine oil-producing states, which received 2.5 percent amount to N21.4 billion. This same amount was converted to U.S. dollars by the second defendant and given to Chris Akumas for the group.

“There was the Abdulaziz Yari group, represented by the former governor of Zamfara State, Abdulazid Yari. This group got N17.15 billion, representing two per cent.

“Payment to this group was made to a company nominated by Yari, known as Fintes Consultancy Ltd. This was not paid in dollars. It was transferred to the company’s account on the instructions of ex-governor Yari.

“The last group is the group of the consultant, who got about 1.04 per cent, amounting to N8.9 billion, out of which he converted about N4.2 billion to U.S. dollars and handed to the first defendant as appreciation for nominating him as the consultant. The consultant benefited about N4.6 billion.

“The second defendant was invited and he made statement. He admitted to receiving and sharing the money as I had stated.

“These funds were also traced to the purchase of properties, both commercial and residential in several parts of Kano, the FCT, and Minna in Niger State.

“So far, the sum of $2.7 million, less $100, has been recovered in cash from the first, second and third defendants. As at today, N32b has been recovered from the five groups.

“From the accountant-general group, $2.7 million, less 100 dollars, was recovered. N304m was also recovered from the group.

“Another N50 million was recovered from the third defendant, who is part of this group, in addition to properties recovered.

“The bulk of the N32 billion was recovered from the first, second and third groups.

“The sum of about N3b was traced to the construction of the commodity market at Gezawa Town, Kano, from funds received by the first defendant from the second and fifth groups.

“N504 million was also traced to the reconstruction of Alikhlas Supermarket also known as Kano City Mall, belonging to the first defendant, located at Mandarin area of Kano.

“In relation to the $2.7 million less than $100, the sum of $1.8 million cash was recovered from persons who received the $1.8 million from the first defendant.

“$900,000 less $100 was recovered from the first defendant himself, who returned same voluntarily.

“He returned it in cash, which has been received and registered as exhibit in this case by the commission,” the witness said.

Although lawyers to the defendants – Chris Uche,  Joe Abraham, Mohammed Ndayako and Gordy Uche (all SANs) objected, Justice Halilu Yusuf admitted in evidence the petition written against Idris and Akindele’s firm’s account statements.

They, however, objected to the admission of the defendants’ statements, which they claimed were obtained under inducement and duress.

Upon defence lawyers’ request, Justice Yusuf agreed to conduct trial within trial to ascertain the voluntariness or otherwise of the statements.

He adjourned till January 30 for the commencement of the trial within trial.

The Nation

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Osun man on death row for fowl theft shares how police subjected 17-year-old self to torture

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December 22, 2024

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Osun man on death row for fowl theft shares how police subjected 17-year-old self to torture

Segun Olowookere, a man who was sentenced to death for stealing fowls in Osun State when he was 17, has recounted how the police tortured and gave him a cutlass used as an exhibit against him as a minor in court.

FIJ had earlier reported that Governor Ademola Adeleke planned to pardon Olowookere after news of how Justice Sakariya Oyejide Falola sentenced Olowookere and Morakinyo Sunday to death in 2014 broke out.

Olowookere was charged in court with conspiracy, armed robbery and stealing. It was on these grounds that Falola delivered his judgment.

Olowookere and Sunday spent some days at a police station in Okuku before their arraignment and conviction. Olowookere said that the police gave them one cutlass each while at the station for weeding the premises.

However, the two of them were later transferred to Osogbo, the state capital, with the cutlasses. These cutlasses were later presented before the judge as exhibits of an armed robbery offence, Olowookere told The Punch in an interview on Sunday.

HOW HE WAS ARRESTED

Now in a custodial centre working with a medical team, Olowookere said he gave himself up for the arrest in November 2010.

“I was at my father’s shop in Oyan after returning from school. My dad and I were discussing my university admission and suddenly, we heard gunshots, and everybody ran away except my dad and a few others,” he narrated.

“My father was taken to a police van where there were some children. I was peeping out and could hear and see what was going on. The police asked my dad where I was and he asked them what my offence was. When they couldn’t give him a satisfactory response, my father shouted at the top of his voice that I should run away because the police wanted to arrest me.

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“But I was wondering what my offence was. So, I came out and went to meet them. I was detained at the police post in Oyan and was taken to Okuku Divisional Police Headquarters the following day. I met the children who were in the police van when they came for me sitting on the ground and eating rice.”

THEY WERE GIVEN CUTLASSES

Olowookere recalled that the divisional police officer (DPO) heading the station at the time accused him of being a leader of an armed robbery gang consisting of teenage children.

Some days after his arrest, his parents were still making efforts to secure his bail. While this was ongoing, the police engaged them in labour, giving them a cutlass each to cut the grasses at the station.

“The DPO told me that one of the children confessed to stealing two broilers and some crates of eggs. I met the broilers and the eggs at the station,” he said.

“The children were eight in number. He told me the children said I was their gang leader, which I denied. The children he was talking about were around 12 and 13 years old, while I was 17 then. I told him I knew the children but I didn’t have anything to do with them other than greeting them in the community.

“I met Sunday Morakinyo at the station, and he told the police that he didn’t know me nor had anything to do with me. I don’t even know where he was arrested. All the children were released but Morakinyo and I were not.

“We were seriously tortured from the first day I got to the Okuku Police Station under the supervision of the DPO. The children who allegedly committed the crime were not beaten. He repeatedly asked me to admit and confess to a crime I didn’t commit.

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“After some days, we were given cutlasses to cut the grass at the police station premises despite having injuries on every part of our body as a result of the torture.”

BAIL SUM BEYOND HIS PARENTS

Olowookere’s father was asked to produce N30,000 for his bail, but his father could only raise N20,000, and the police would not cut down this financial bail demand.

His father then left the station, perhaps to gather the shortfall of N10,000. Before his father could return, the police had ferried them to Osogbo.

“My father could only raise N20,000 out of the N30,000 they demanded. The police rejected it and insisted on the N30,000,” Olowookere said.

“My dad left the station to look for the money. But before he returned the following day, we had been moved to the SARS office in Osogbo. The cutlasses that were given to me and Morakinyo to cut the grass were presented to SARS as exhibits and they were told we were armed robbers.

“After 17 days in the SARS cell, we were taken to a magistrate court and charged with robbery, and from there to the High Court, where we were sentenced to death.”

The poultry farm from which they were alleged to have stolen fowls belonged to one of his uncles.

Despite initially promising not to pursue the case against him, the uncle went on to testify in court against him.

“We are from the same Ajerotutu Compound in Oyan. He was summoned to a family meeting where he said I was not among those who stole the fowls, but my name was mentioned by the children who were arrested,” Olowookere explained.

“He told the family that he would discontinue the case. But he later came to court to testify against me.

“I never wrote any statement to the police. My parents never had a flat, not to mention a six-bedroom flat. I lived with my parents until I was arrested.”

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Asked why his lawyer didn’t object to the statement during the trial, Olowookere said, “I didn’t know anything, but I am sure I didn’t write any statement.”

SUNDAY SUFFERS MENTAL ILLNESS

As a result of the torture they received at the police station before arraignment, Sunday began to bleed from several parts of his body.

Eventually, this bleeding led to his becoming mentally ill, according to Olowookere.

“He is now a mad person. He is at Ibara Prison. He developed mental issues when we were tortured at the police station in Okuku and by the officers of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad. I am just lucky, and I believe God’s grace is over me,” he said.

“Morakinyo was bleeding from the anus, ears, nose and on the head. The police did not treat him despite that. I cleaned the cell every day because his blood stained the floor. He was bleeding for the entire six days we spent inside the Okuku police cell before we were transferred to the SARS cell in Osogbo.

“We spent 17 days with SARS and Morakinyo bled every day. Some of the SARS officers noticed that he was not mentally normal again but others thought he was pretending, and from there, he developed full mental issues.

“When we were remanded at Ilesa Custodial Centre, the warders tried to manage his mental health but they didn’t have the capacity. His condition then worsened. As I am talking to you, he doesn’t recognise anybody again. His mother has stopped checking up on him.”

Olowookere said he was hopeful that he would regain his freedom someday to pursue his academic studies and become useful to the world.

“I first enrolled in Yewa College of Education, Abeokuta, Ogun State, after my sentence. It is my dream to study medicine, but it is not available at a college of education. I was later transferred to a maximum prison in 2016. But due to financial constraints, I couldn’t study my dream course,” he explained.

“However, I was encouraged to train under the medical practitioners in the prison. So, I applied and I was accepted into the medical line in 2017. Since then, I have been working with the nurses, pharmacists and doctors inside the prison.

“I believe I will be free one day, and when I regain my freedom, I will definitely go for medicine. I pray to God to set me free because I am innocent.

“I don’t know anything about the crime I am convicted for. I pray to God to give me the opportunity to prove my innocence to the world and be useful to society. I am not a criminal; I have never stolen anything in my life, not to talk of robbing somebody.”

Osun man on death row for fowl theft shares how police subjected 17-year-old self to torture

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Oil cabal sponsoring blackmails against Tompolo, Otuaro, Kyari, say Ijaw youths

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December 22, 2024

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Chairman of Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited High Chief Government Ekpemupolo (aka Tompolo)

Oil cabal sponsoring blackmails against Tompolo, Otuaro, Kyari, say Ijaw youths

Stakeholders under the Ijaw Youths Network (IYN) have alleged a well-coordinated international blackmail campaign against High Chief Government Ekpemupolo (Tompolo), Chairman of Tantita Security Services; Mele Kyari, Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL); and Dr. Dennis Otuaro, Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP).

In a statement issued on Sunday by its President, Frank Ebikabo, and Secretary, Federal Ebiaridor, the IYN accused a cabal of oil thieves of sponsoring the campaign to undermine the successes of Tantita Security Services and other security outfits in combating oil theft.

The group specifically condemned a staged protest outside the United Nations headquarters in New York, describing it as a smear campaign filled with false criminal allegations against Tompolo, Kyari, and Otuaro.

The IYN called on the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, and others entrusted with the nation’s security to ensure a thorough investigation of persons behind the blackmail and bring them to justice in the interest of national security.

The stakeholders also urged President Ahmed Bola Tinubu to be resolute in sustaining the reversal of the evils of oil theft against Nigeria and her citizens.

The IYN stressed that oil thieves and their operatives armed with billions of ill-gotten resources were funding the recurrent attacks on Tompolo, Kyari and Otuaro.

The youths insisted that a virulent cabal of oil thieves with a vast network across international boundaries was on the  rampage to orchestrate the campaign targeting the economy of the country and its leadership.

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The IYN said that the oil thieves were pooling resources together with their international collaborators to undermine the President, national security and the nation’s economy.

The group said that it was not unexpected that the deadly cabal that almost ruined the economy of the country by stealing billions of petro dollars would not give up their lucrative crime without a fight.

The IYN said that the achievement of the Tinubu Administration which had been able to attain 1.8m barrels of crude oil per day, after serious efforts into the battle against oil thieves should be protected from such influential, deadly gang.

The IYN added some of those fighting Tompolo, Kyari and Otuaro were persons, who pressed to be appointed Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme without success.

The Ijaw youths groups said that the antecedents of Otuaro and his capacity to deepen consultations and sustenance of peace in the Niger Delta might be hurting those behind the campaign of calumny in the region.

The group called on all sister organizations in the Niger Delta to support the campaign against oil theft, Tantita Security Service Limited, the NNPCL and the PAP leadership.

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The group said: “We are shocked at the extent to which this deadly cabal of oil thieves can go to orchestrate a campaign of calumny against hardworking people carrying out their lawful responsibilities in the Niger Delta.

“Of course, nobody expects a group of extremely wealthy, connected and influential people who has been involved in oil theft, stealing billions for years to go away without resistance.

“The show of shame in front of the UN headquarters is a most reprehensible attack on the country image, the President, national security and our economy.

“The unpatriotic characters are conniving with enemies of Nigeria in their criminal bid to bring back the dark days of oil theft and its impact on the nation’s economy.

“We call on the President, to be firm in sustaining what is good for Nigeria. Tompolo, and Tantita have shown that it is not impossible to stop the menace of oil theft as shown by the daily production of oil to 1.8 million barrels per day,

“We also urge the Mr Kyari and Dr Otuaro to be firm in carrying out their official responsibilities to this great country. That oil thieves are focusing attacks on the, shows in clear terms that their actions are suffocating their evil activities in the region.”

Oil cabal sponsoring blackmails against Tompolo, Otuaro, Kyari, say Ijaw youths

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NURTW scribe felicitates Nigerians on Xmas, urges caution 

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6 hours ago

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December 22, 2024

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NURTW scribe felicitates Nigerians on Xmas, urges caution 

 

The General Secretary of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Comrade Kayode Agbeyangi, has enjoined Nigerians to imbibe the virtues of peace, love and compassion as taught through the birth of Jesus Christ.

He stated this in his Christmas and end of the year goodwill message to felicitate members of the union and Nigerians in general.

Agbeyangi urged Nigerians to use the festive season to reflect on the values of love, compassion, and sacrifice that Jesus Christ embodied.

“This period is not for merry making alone; we should also spare time to reflect on the birth and life of Jesus Christ.

“His birth teaches humility, love compassion and sacrifice. As Nigerians, we must show love to our fellow county men. We must love our country. As Nigerians, we must be ready to make sacrifices for the nation.”

The NURTW scribe also used the opportunity to appeal to members of the union and other road users to always exercise caution and adhere to all safety protocols while travelling during the festive season.

“As we celebrate, let us not forget the importance of road safety. The roads can be treacherous, especially during the festive season.

“I urge our members and all road users to drive safely, avoid overspending, overtaking at dangerous bends and overloading, and be courteous to other road users,” he stated.

He also advised drivers that all their vehicle papers should be up to date to avoid embarrassment from law enforcement officers on the highways.

Comrade Agbeyangi prayed for a peaceful and joyous celebration, and wished members of the union and Nigerians, a happy prosperous New Year.

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