August 10, (THEWILL) – A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), sitting at Maitama, has revoked the bail earlier granted to Mohammed Usman, one of the Co-defendants in the alleged fraud case involving the former Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF).
Usman is the 3rd Defendant in the 14-count money laundering charge filed against the former AGF, Ahmed Idris, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The anti-graft agency alleged that Usman, who was the Director of the Federation Account, and one Godfrey Olusegun Akindele, in connivance with the suspended AGF, diverted public funds to the tune of about N109.4bn, using the account of a company, Gezawa Commodity Market & Exchange Limited, which is the 3rd defendant in the matter.
At the resumed hearing of the case on Tuesday, August 9, the presiding judge, Justice Adeyemi Ajayi, revoked the 3rd defendant’s bail following his failure to arrive at the courtroom on time.
Usman was absent when the trial Judge entered the courtroom around 9:20 am, though his lawyer, Ibrahim Ishaku (SAN), notified the court that he was held up in a gridlock.
Dissatisfied with the excuse, Justice Ajayi revoked the defendant’s bail and ordered his remand at the Kuje prison.
The court had on July 28, granted the former AGF bail in the sum of N5bn with two sureties, which it stressed must be a Director and a Permanent Secretary. It equally granted the 2nd and 3rd defendants bail in the sum of N2bn each with two sureties that must be Directors.
As part of their bail, the defendants were barred from travelling out of Abuja, even as they were ordered to surrender their international passports and undertake not to procure alternate passports during the pendency of the case.
They were equally ordered to depose an affidavit of assurance to abide by all their bail conditions.
