Suspended Accountant General, Others Granted Bail

By Akinwale Kasali

The Federal High Court, Abuja, has granted the disgraced Accountant General, Idris Ahmed, and his co-defendants bail.

Justice Adeyemi Ajayi ruled that Idris and his co-defendants are entitled to bail in spite of allegations against them. She granted the  trio bail upon terms and condition considered liberal.

The Judge said that the defendants are not allowed to leave the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), but must seek clearance from the Court if they have to do or have their bail revoked.

The Court also required that the defendants are to sign an undertaking that they will abide by the bail conditions by the EFCC.

Justice Ajayi ordered that the defendants should not have and shall not procure alternate passports until the case is done with, having deposited their original passports to the commission.

He gave the ruling on grounds that the allegations against the defendants are yet to be proven.

It also 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.

Trial commenced immediately after the ruling on bail application.

It would be recalled that last week, Idris and his co-defendants were remanded in Prison custody by the High Court in Abuja. They pleaded not guilty to the charges leveled against them by the EFCC.

Prior to Friday’s ruling by the Court, Idris and his co-defendants had been in and out of court within the last two weeks following a 14-count charge bordering on theft and criminal breach of trust to the tune of N109.5 billion, preferred against them by the Nigerian government.

Counsel to Idris, Chris Uche, prayed the court to allow the defendant continue enjoying the administrative bail granted to him by the EFCC.

Uche added that the EFCC has the defendants’ international passports, and as such they should be allowed to come back on Monday to take their bail application.

The lawyer asked the court to permit the defendants to come back on Monday and not remand them at any correctional facility.

However, their plea was not granted even as Justice Ajayi ordered that they be remanded in the Kuje Correctional Facility, noting that the Court is not a puppet to dance to the rhythm of public opinions.