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Justice Yusuf Halilu of the Federal Capital Territory, Maitama Abuja High Court on Tuesday reserved his ruling on the admissibility of the statement of former Accountant-General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, following a trial within a trial.
Idris is facing prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, along with Geoffrey Olusegun Akindele, Mohammed Kudu Usman and Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited on a 14-count charge, bordering on theft and fraudulent diversion of public funds amounting to $109.5 billion.
The trial within a trial was ordered by the court on November 22, 2022, following an application by counsel to the first defendant, Chris Uche, SAN, who alleged that the statements made by his client to the EFCC were obtained through deception and inducement.
In adopting the final written submission of the defense, the first lawyer of the accused, considered that the prosecution had not proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt and invited the court to reject the prosecution documents and video evidence, presented before the court.
In his response, prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, informed the court that the prosecution filed a written statement, dated October 9, 2026, and adopted it and prayed the court to admit the statements.
He said the prosecution had fully discharged its burden of proving that the first accused voluntarily made his statement, supported by three witnesses whose testimony was not contradicted during cross-examination.
“My Lord, we have filed a written address, dated and filed on 9 October 2026. We have adopted the said written address and invite your Lordship to admit the declarations sought. These are 14 different declarations made on 13 different days.
“My lord, we have completely absolved ourselves of the burden of proving that the statement was made voluntarily. We have called three witnesses who witnessed the taking and writing of the statement and their evidence was not contradicted under cross-examination. And we have proved Before facie that the statements were obtained voluntarily,” he said.
While regretting the slow pace of justice in the matter, the prosecuting counsel said, “We are spending a lot of time on this matter and it is giving me serious concern because this is a 2022 case and we are still in PW1 and therefore Your Lordship directs us to file a written address within 21 days. Since June 2026, the first defendant has not filed an application, more than three months before filing an application, he has not even said anything in this regard.”
Judge Halilu postponed a decision on the admissibility of the defendant’s statement to a date which he said would be communicated to both parties.
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