Justice Adeyemi Ajayi of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Maitama on Thursday granted bail to the former Accountant-General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris.
This is coming six days after he was remanded in Kuje prison custody, following the order of the court.
In his ruling on the bail application, Justice Ajayi adopted all the terms and conditions of the administrative bail which the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) earlier gave to Idris and his two co-defendants.
The judge said, “In line with the due process and supremacy of the law, the Defendants are still entitled to bail, irrespective of the enormity of the allegations against them.
“The EFCC did not in any of its processes, stated that the Defendants misbehaved while on administrative bail”.
Consequently, as part of conditions for release of the Defendants on bail, the court, held that they must remain within the Federal Capital Territory FCT, Abuja, adding that they must seek consent before travelling out.
The court further ordered the Defendants to depose to an affidavit of assurance to abide by all their bail conditions.
Justice Ajayi also directed the Defendants to surrender their international passports and also give assurance that they would not procure alternate passports during the pendency of the case.
The judge further held that the Defendants should remain in Kuje prison until they are able to perfect their bail conditions.
Other Defendants in the matter, are: Godfrey Olusegun Akindele, Mohammed Kudu Usman and Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited.
The court had on July 22, remanded them in prison custody after they were arraigned for allegedly diverting public funds to the tune of about N109.4 billion.
The 14-count charge against them borders on conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and money laundering.
The Defendants, who earlier pleaded not guilty to the charge against them, had through their respective lawyers, begged the court to release them on bail.
Chris Uche, SAN, who appeared for Idris, assured the court that his client would be available to face the charge against him.
Uche also drew attention of the court to the fact that the EFCC earlier granted administrative bail to his client, who he said flew into Abuja from Kano State immediately he was notified about his arraignment.
He said, “My lord, the charge against the Defendants contained bailable offences.
“They are charged under section 115 of the Penal Code, and the offence against the Defendants upon conviction, attracts a maximum sentence of seven years with option of fine or without fine.
“They are also charged under section 12 of the ICPC Act which also attracts seven years imprisonment.
“So my lord, these are not capital offences that bail cannot be granted.
“Moreover, the Prosecution, which investigated and saw the seriousness of the case, still deemed it fit to release the Defendants on bail. The charge did not grow weight overnight.
“As we have stated in our affidavit, the 1st Defendant (Idris) has very responsible sureties that will take him on bail, and he commits himself irrevocably to submit himself for trial.
“He made himself available by quickly returning to Abuja from Kano immediately he was invited for this trial.
“He also appeared before the EFCC regularly, in line with the administrative bail that was earlier granted to him, which he never breached.
“We are therefore urging my lord to grant the Defendant bail on very liberal terms”.
Lawyers to the the 2nd and 3rd Defendants, Peter Abalaka and Mohammed Ndayako (SAN), urged the court to admit their clients on bail, pledging their availability for trial.
The Defendants also urged the court to discountenance separate counter-affidavits the EFCC filed to oppose their release on bail.
They predicated their bail applications on Sections 35 and 36 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, as well as on Sections 159 and 162 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA, 2015.
But the EFCC, in a counter affidavit it filed on July 26, urged the court to consider the nature and gravity of the charge, the cogency of the proof of evidence against the Defendants as well as the severity of the punishment upon their conviction.
Lawyer to the EFCC Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), however, argued that contrary to position of Chris Uche, the allegation of criminal breach of trust against the defendants would attract 14 years imprisonment.
The anti-graft agency had earlier disclosed that a Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Finance, Aliyu Ahmed, whose name was originally included in count-11 of the charge, would appear as one of its witnesses in the matter.
