The bail granted to one Mohammed Usman, an alleged accomplice of former accountant general of the federation in the N109.4bn fraud suit filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been revoked by a federal high court sitting in Abuja.
Recall that EFCC had alleged that Usman Director of the Federation Account, and one Godfrey Olusegun Akindele had connived with former AGF to divert N109.4 billion in public funds through the account of a company, Gezawa Commodity Market & Exchange Limited.
The trial judge Justice Adeyemi Ajayi revoked the bail of Usman who is the third defendant in the case as a result of his failure to appear in court on time on Tuesday.
As at 9:20 when the trial Judge entered the court Usman was absent but his lawyer, Ibrahim Ishaku, SAN, informed the court that he was stuck in traffic.
Justice Ajayi revoked the defendant’s bail after being dissatisfied with his Lawyers explanation and ordered his incarceration at the Kuje prison.
Recall that the court granted the former AGF bail in the sum of N5 billion with two sureties, one of whom must be a director and the other a permanent secretary on 28 July, 2022.
Similarly, the court also granted bail to the second and third defendants in the sum of N2 billion each, with two sureties who must be directors.
Justice Ajayi stated that she was inclined to adopt all of the terms and conditions of the EFCC’s previous administrative bail granted to the defendants.
As part of the conditions, the defendants were barred from leaving Abuja, even though they were ordered to surrender their international passports and agree not to obtain alternate passports while the case was pending.
The defendants were also ordered to sign an affidavit of assurance that they would follow all of their bail conditions.
Mr. Hayatudeen Ahmed, the first prosecution witness, testified before the court about how the defendants allegedly stole N84.7 billion out of $2.2 billion meant for nine oil-producing states.
The witness, an investigative officer, stated that the ex-AGF was arrested as a result of an investigation into a petition filed against him by the Federal Treasury Concerned Staff Association.
The officer informed the court that an investigation revealed that after the Federal Account Allocation Committee, FAAC, approved $2.2 billion for the nine oil-producing states, the defendants secretly diverted N84.7 billion out of it under the guise of consultant settlements.
Furthermore, he said, a company founded by the second defendant, Akindele, a former AGF’s technical assistant, was approved as the sole consultant for the deal.
According to the witness, the defendants withdrew funds from FAAC’s Escrow account and distributed them to themselves and others, including a former governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, and a former deputy governor of Abia State, Chuks Akomas.
He testified in court that his team of investigators discovered that the former AGF used his own share of the loot to buy properties such as the Gezawa Commodity & Exchange Market Ltd, Gezawa Integrated Farms Ltd, and Kano City Mall, some of which he claimed were acquired in the name of the former AGF.
Led in evidence by EFCC lawyer, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, the PW-1, said his team had in the course of the investigation, interrogated several persons, including a Kano-based Bureau-de-Change operator, Beta. I. Kurah, whom he said admitted that he received over N1.3bn from the former AGF, all in cash and in US dollars.
He also disclosed that the BDC operator equally revealed that he made several payments, including the sum of N208m, into the account of Gezawa Commodity & Exchange Market Ltd, in Jaiz Bank.