The trial of the former Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Ahmed Idris, resumed on Thursday, with the accused asserting that he was deceived by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) into confessing to charges of siphoning public funds amounting to approximately N109.4 billion.
Facing a 14-count charge alongside three others, including an aide to the former AGF, Mr. Olusegun Akindele, a Director of the Federation Account, Mohammed Usman, and Gezawa Commodity Market & Exchange Limited, Idris contested the confessional statements he made during EFCC interviews.
The trial judge, Justice Halilu Yusuf, had ordered a trial-within-trial to determine the admissibility of the extra-judicial statements. While the prosecution insisted that the defendant voluntarily confessed, Idris claimed he made the statements under duress.
Vanguard gathered Idris alleged that the EFCC promised him immunity from trial if he implicated a former Minister of Finance and some Governors. His lead counsel, Chief Chris Uche, SAN, argued that the statements violated procedural provisions.
The trial judge, Yusuf Halilu, admitted as evidence a video tendered by the counsel for the EFCC, Rotimi Jacobs. The EFCC will call its second witness in the continuation of the former accountant general’s trial on March 20.
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