N80bn Fraud: AGF Ahmed Idris Lands In Fresh Trouble As EFCC Makes New Discovery

More trouble has come upon the Accountant-General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission makes fresh discoveries.

Nigeria’s anti-graft agency has reportedly traced at least 17 properties to the embattled AGF.

The Publisher Nigeria had reported earlier that the EFCC on Monday arrested the accountant-general for fraud to the tune of N80bn.

A statement released earlier by the commission claimed that the AGF raked off the enormous funds through bogus consultancies and other illegal activities using proxies, family members and close associates.

The funds were reportedly laundered through real estate investments in Kano and Abuja.

Subsequently, after the first discovery, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, suspended Idris who is currently being investigated at the office of the anti-graft agency.

Relating the latest discovery about the embattled AGF, an official of the EFCC who confided in The PUNCH on the ground of anonymity said the properties traced to Idris are located in Kano, Lagos, Abuja, Dubai and London.

He, however, said preliminary investigations showed that the nation’s chief accountant allegedly used proxies to buy some of these properties.

The commission according to him would therefore need to invite some of the proxies of the accountant-general.

The detective added that from all indications, these properties were purchased while Idris was in office and did not declare them before the Code of Conduct Bureau as stipulated by law.

“About 17 houses in London, Lagos, Kano, Abuja and Dubai have been traced to him. In Abuja, some of the houses are located in serviced estates,” the PUNCH quoted the source as saying.

The Publisher Nigeria understands that AGF Idris came under scrutiny last year following reports that he offered huge sums of money to a family to secure the marriage of their 16-year-old daughter.

The uncle of the teenager, Nura Bagudu, had disclosed to journalists during an interview that the accountant-general offered properties and gifts to the young lady and her family.

“He told the young lady to go to Abuja and choose any house she wanted and he would buy it for her,” Bagudu recalled.

Meanwhile, the accountant-general had in 2021 launched Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited which he had openly admitted to owning.

Idris stated this when he received a delegation of the Kano Concerned Citizens Initiative led by its late Chairman, Alhaji Bashir Tofa. The project is said to be worth huge sums of money which is far more than his income.

An EFCC official said the legal department was already getting an order to remand the accountant-general and get an interim forfeiture on some of his properties pending the completion of investigations.

The Publisher Nigeria reports that the Federal Government had on Wednesday announced the suspension of the accountant-general to allow for a seamless investigation.

In a letter conveying Idris’ suspension, the Minister of Finance warned the embattled public official not to visit the office at any time, adding that the suspension was in line with the public service rules.

The letter titled, ‘Letter of Suspension’ read in part, “Following your recent arrest by EFCC on allegations of diversion of funds and money laundering, I write to convey your suspension from work without pay effective May 18, 2022.”