From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, has remanded the former Accountant-General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, in prison custody.
The decision emanated from his arraignment over alleged complicity in the illegal diversion of public funds to the tune of about N109.4 billion.
Justice A.O. Adeyemi Ajayi, sitting at the Maitama division of the court remanded the ex-AGF, after he entered a plea of not guilty on a 14-count charge that bordered on conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and money laundering.
Other defendants in the matter are: Godfrey Olusegun Akindele, Mohammed Kudu Usman and Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited.
After their “not guilty” plea, Idris and other defendants asked the court for bail pending trial.
The court ordered that Idris and other defendants should remain in custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service till Wednesday when their bail applications will be heard.
Earlier, counsel to Idris, Chief Chris Uche, SAN, in his submissions, assured the court that his client would be available to face the charge against him.
Uche specifically noted that the EFCC had earlier granted administrative bail to the defendant who he said flew into Abuja from Kano State immediately he was notified about the arraignment.
He equally urged the court to recognise the fact that the EFCC earlier seized the international passport of his client, adding that “the prisons are already saturated and unsafe.”
Responding to the bail applications, the Prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, however, informed the court that he would need time to respond to the defendants’ bail applications.
Rotimi argued that allowing the defendants to go home after their arraignment, without hearing and determination of their formal bail applications, would send a wrong signal to the society.
In his ruling, Justice Ajayi ordered that the defendants should be remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre.