July 28, (THEWILL) – The Federal High Court, Abuja, has granted the suspended Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris and his co-defendants bail, upon terms and condition given by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Other defendants arraigned with the suspended AGF are Godfrey Olusegun Akindele, Mohammed Kudu Usman and Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited.
The court had on July 22, remanded them in prison custody after they were arraigned for allegedly diverting public funds to the tune of about N109.4 billion.
The 14-count charge against them borders on conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and money laundering.
The Defendants had earlier pleaded not guilty to the charge against them.
However, the court, in a ruling, delivered by Justice Adeyemi Ajayi on Thursday, adopted all the terms and conditions of the administrative bail the EFCC, earlier gave the ex-AGF and his two co-Defendants.
“In line with the due process and supremacy of the law, the Defendants are still entitled to bail, irrespective of the enormity of the allegations against them. The EFCC did not in any of its processes, state that the Defendants misbehaved while on administrative bail”, the court held.
However, the bail conditions stated that the Defendants must remain within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja and should they intend to travel, they would have to seek clearance from the court or have their bail revoked.
It directed the Defendants to surrender their international passports and also give assurance that they would not procure alternate passports.
The court further ordered the Defendants to depose to an affidavit of assurance to abide by all their bail conditions.
The trial Judge gave the ruling on grounds that the allegations against the defendants are yet to be proven.
The court also stated that In line with the rule of law, the defendants are entitled to bail in-spite of allegations against them, since the prosecution did not mention that the defendants misbehaved while in EFCC custody.
Justice Ajayi held that the Defendants should remain in Kuje prison until they are able to perfect their bail conditions.
