The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has revealed seventeen items allegedly belonging to Ahmed Idris, the sacked Accountant-General of the Federation.
This comes a day after Zainab Ahmed, the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, hovered over Idris, who is currently being investigated for N80 billion in fraud.
In a report, an EFCC official who requested anonymity said the properties linked to Idris are in Kano, Lagos, Abuja, Dubai, and London. However, he stated that preliminary investigations revealed that the country’s chief accountant allegedly used proxies to purchase some of these properties.
As a result, the commission would need to invite some of the accountant-proxies. general’s According to the detective, these properties were purchased while Idris was in office but were not declared to the Code of Conduct Bureau as required by law.
He added, “About 17 houses in London, Lagos, Kano, Abuja, and Dubai have been traced to him. In Abuja, some of the houses are located in serviced estates.” The EFCC had in a statement on Monday announced the arrest of the accountant-general for fraud to the tune of N80bn.
The statement read in part, “The commission’s verified intelligence showed that the AGF raked off the funds through bogus consultancies and other illegal activities using proxies, family members, and close associates. The funds were laundered through real estate investments in Kano and Abuja.”
Idris was investigated last year after allegations that he offered a family large sums of money in order to secure the marriage of their 16-year-old daughter. Nura Bagudu, the teenager’s uncle, told journalists in an interview that the accountant-general offered the young lady and her family properties and gifts and had filed complaints with the Federal Government. “He told the young lady to go to Abuja and pick any house she wanted, and he’d buy it for her,” Bagudu told newsmen.
In addition, in 2021, the accountant-general established Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited, which he openly admitted to owning. Idris made the remarks while receiving a delegation from the Kano Concerned Citizens Initiative led by its late Chairman, Alhaji Bashir Tofa.
The project is said to be worth a lot of money, far more than his salary. According to an EFCC official, the legal department is already receiving an order to remand the accountant-general and obtain an interim forfeiture on some of his properties pending the completion of the investigations. Meanwhile, the Federal Government announced on Wednesday that the accountant-general would be suspended to allow for a smooth investigation.
The Minister of Finance warned the embattled public official not to visit the office at any time in a letter conveying Idris’ suspension, adding that the suspension was in accordance with public service rules. “Following your recent arrest by EFCC on allegations of diversion of funds and money laundering, I write to convey your suspension from work without pay effective May 18, 2022,” the letter read in part.
