How Ex-AGF Idris Vulnerably Compromised TSA, GIFMIS, and IPPIS – EFCC
According to the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ahmed Idris, the EX Accountant-General of the Federation, compromised the Treasury Single Account (TSA), Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), and Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) and stole billions of naira from the government.
Godfrey Akindele and Mohammed Usman, Idris’ co-defendants, are on trial in Maitama, Abuja, before Justice Adeyemi Ajayi of the Federal Capital Territory High Court (FCT) for a N109 billion fraud.
Idris was found to have compromised important units under his control, including the TSA, GIFMIS, and IPPIS, according to the EFCC’s investigations, Chief Investigative Officer of the case and prosecution witness one (PW1) Hayatu Ahmed testified before the court on Thursday during the case’s resumed trial. Rotimi Jacobs, the prosecuting attorney, led Ahmed into the witness stand.
He claimed that as a result, the government lost money that Idris allegedly used to build the Gezawa Exchange Limited, Gezawa Integrated Farms, and Kano City Mall.
The witness was quoted as saying in a statement released by the EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwajaren, “We had cause to invite several individuals who had transactions with the Gezawa Commodity and Exchange Limited and found one Baita Ibrahim Kura of B I Kura Ibrahim, a Bureau de Change (BDC) operator based in Kano.”
We invited him and warned him, and he agreed to write a statement in which he claimed to have made many payments, including one of N208 million to the Gezawa Commodity Market with Jaiz Bank.
The witness said before the court that Ibrahim also acknowledged paying Architect Mustapha Mukhtar of Marsc Construction Limited the sum of N866 million for the building of Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited.
“My lord, investigation showed that Ibrahim received United States dollars from the first defendant. We also found out that agitation from the nine oil-producing states, regarding derivation from the excess crude account, was tabled before the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) and the committee came up with a figure of about $2.2 billion as what was due to the nine oil producing states, and this amount was to be deducted over a 60 months period on a quarterly basis,” he said.
In order to smooth payments to the oil-producing states, Hayatu said that 11.5% of the total, or N44.7 billion, was set aside as rewards to some public officials.
After this committee’s decision, various companies including Akindele and Co., a business owned by the second defendant, Godfrey Olusegun Akindele was presented as consultants.
“My lord, the second defendant, Akindele, was the first defendant’s technical assistant and a staff member in the AGF office until recently. Akindele’s bank accounts received N84.39 billion, according to an investigation, he informed the court.
The witness claims that another transaction took place on February 12, 2021, when N21 billion was deposited into the account.
He disclosed that other payments totaling N94.39 billion, in addition to the payment made on February 12, 2021, were also made on May 6, 2021, and between July 28, 2021, and November 5, 2021.
Hayatu further informed the court that money was distributed to a number of organizations, including the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), which was represented by Peace Akomas, a former deputy governor of Abia State who was said to have received N18.8 billion.
He asserted that Akindele withdrew the funds, converted them to US dollars, and then gave them to Akomas.
“The second group is the AGF group, and it got a total sum of N18.01 billion,” said the EFCC official. “The third group, the Commissioners of Finance in the nine oil producing states, received N21.4 billion. The money was withdrawn by Akindele, converted to US dollars, and handed over to Akomas on behalf of the group.
“The fourth group is called the Yari group. This group received N17.15 billion. The entirety of the sum was transferred to the account of Fimex Professional Services on the instruction of the representative of this group – Abdul’Aziz Yari, former Zamfara state governor.
“The remaining N8.9 billion was retained by the second defendant. Furthermore, N4.29 billion was converted to US dollars by Akindele as appreciation for the consultancy contract, and the balance of N4.6 billion was given to Akindele,” said the witness.
He testified before the court that all of his disclosures had been validated in writing by the defendants, who had admitted in their statements to having amassed all the funds.
Additionally, according to Hayatu, properties bought with the money by the first and third defendants were found in a number of places in Abuja, Kano, and Minna in the Niger State.
