A retired Director of Legal Services in the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Haruna Alabi, yesterday admitted to signing a statement made by the former AGF, Ahmed Idris, as a witness on May 17, 2022.

Alabi was testifying in the trial-within-trial of the former AGG in an Abuja High Court while being cross-examined by the prosecution counsel, Oluwaleke Atolagbe.

The court had ordered a trial-within-trial following the objection raised by Idris’s counsel, Chris Uche (SAN).

The defence lawyer objected because Idris’s statements, which the prosecution sought to tender on November 23, 2022, were made on the ground of deception and inducement.

Idris is charged alongside Geoffrey Akindele; Mohammed Usman, and Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited with fraudulent diversion of public funds to the tune of N109.5 billion before Justice Halilu Yusuf.

They pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Testifying, Alabi identified his signature and name when the exhibit, marked B3 (Idris’s statement on May 17, 2022), was shown to him.

In the course of cross-examination by the prosecution counsel, Atolagbe, the witness told the court that he visited Idris in the company of other directors at the headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on May 17, 2022.

When asked if Idris was still the AGF as of May 17, 2022, the witness said he was in the custody of the EFCC.

Asked in what capacity their visit was made, he said: “As our former boss, we wanted to show empathy.

“I wrote my name and signed on the back of the first defendant’s statement of May 17, 2022, and did not sign on any other space,” Alabi said.

Answering if the fitst defendant wrote the statement of May 17, which he signed at the back, the witness said: “I don’t know.”

After his evidence, the first defendant’s counsel asked for an adjournment to enable him to produce his witness.

Justice Yusuf directed the defence to produce all his witnesses by the next adjourned date.

He adjourned the continuation of the trial-within-trial until June 24.

Source: The Nation News