A former Acting Accountant-General of the Federation, AGF, Mr. Anamekwe Nwabuoku, who is facing trial over alleged N1.96billion fraud, on Wednesday, begged the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja to give him time to negotiate with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The ex-Acting AGF, who is facing a nine-count charge, made the plea after the EFCC, through its lawyer, Mr. Ekele Iheanacho, SAN, told the court that it brought five more witnesses to testify in the matter.
Though he was represented at the proceeding by a lawyer, Mr. Mr. Isidore Udenko, however, the defendant, told the court that he has engaged the services of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, that would help him to broker an out-of-court-settlement of the case.
Udenko noted that the matter proceeded to trial after the defendant’s initial attempt to reach an agreement with the anti-graft agency, failed.
On his part, EFCC’s lawyer, Iheanacho, SAN, said he was not opposed to the request by the defendant.
“Even though our five witnesses are in court and we are ready to go on with the trial, however, if request of the defendant will meet the justice of the case, we will not be opposing,” the prosecution counsel added.
Consequently, Justice James Omotosho deferred further proceedings in the case till March 13.
The trial judge adjourned the case for either report of settlement or for continuation of hearing.
It will be recalled that Nwabuoku was in May 2022, appointed to temporarily take charge of the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), after the then AGF, Ahmed Idris, was suspended from office and eventually placed on trial for allegedly laundering public funds totalling about N80.2billion.
EFCC later alleged that the Acting AGF, Nwabuoku, had before his appointment, also dipped his hands into the till.
Investigations into the allegation led to his removal from the office in July 2022, few weeks after he was appointed.
He was subsequently charged to court alongside a Director in the Federal Civil Service, Mr. Felix Nweke.
However, EFCC later amended the charge and delisted Nweke as the 2nd defendant after he agreed to testify against the former Acting AGF.
In the amended charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/240/24, the EFCC alleged that Nwabuoku committed an offence that was contrary to Section 18 of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 2011, as amended by Act No. 1 of 2012, and punishable under Section 15(3) of the same Act.
The court had earlier heard how the defendant used four different companies to siphon public funds to the tune of about N1.96billion.
His former co-defendant, Nweke, made the revelation after he mounted the box to testify as the second prosecution witness, PW-2.
In his evidence-in-chief, Nweke told the court that in a bid to conceal the fraud, the looted funds were channelled into bank accounts that had one Gideon Joseph as the sole signatory.
