A former Acting Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr Anamekwe Nwabuoku, who is currently standing trial over an alleged N1.96 billion fraud, has pleaded with the Federal High Court in Abuja to grant him time to negotiate a settlement with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Nwabuoku, who is facing a nine-count, made the plea on Wednesday after the EFCC, through its counsel, Mr Ekele Iheanacho, SAN, informed the court that the prosecution had brought five additional witnesses to testify in the case.
Although he was represented at the proceedings by his lawyer, Mr Isidore Udenko, the defendant personally informed the court that he had engaged the services of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) to assist in brokering an out-of-court settlement with the anti-graft agency.
Udenko noted that an initial attempt by the defendant to reach an agreement with the EFCC had failed, leading to the commencement of trial.
Responding, the EFCC’s lawyer, Iheanacho, SAN, stated that the prosecution was not opposed to the defendant’s request.
“Even though our five witnesses are in court and we are ready to go on with the trial, however, if the request of the defendant will meet the justice of the case, we will not be opposing,” he said.
Following the submissions, Justice James Omotosho adjourned the case to March 13 for either a report on the settlement or continuation of the hearing.
Background of the Case
Nwabuoku was appointed in May 2022 to temporarily head the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation after the suspension of the then AGF, Ahmed Idris, who was later placed on trial for allegedly laundering about N80.2 billion in public funds.
However, the EFCC alleged that Nwabuoku had, before his appointment, also misappropriated public funds, leading to his removal from office in July 2022, just weeks after his appointment.
He was subsequently charged to court alongside a Director in the Federal Civil Service, Mr Felix Nweke. However, the EFCC later amended the charge and removed Nweke as the second defendant after he agreed to testify against Nwabuoku.
In the amended charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/240/24, the EFCC accused Nwabuoku of committing an offence contrary to Section 18 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended by Act No. 1 of 2012) and punishable under Section 15(3) of the same Act.
During earlier proceedings, the court heard how the defendant allegedly used four different companies to siphon public funds amounting to approximately N1.96 billion.
Nweke, who later became a prosecution witness, testified as PW-2, revealing that the misappropriated funds were transferred into bank accounts where a certain Gideon Joseph was listed as the sole signatory, in an apparent effort to conceal the fraud.
