A former acting Accountant-General of the Federation, Anamekwe Nwabuoku, on Wednesday, has begged to return the looted public fund perpetuated by him and his cohort.
The ex-AGoF made the plea while appearing before Justice James Omotoso of the Federal High Court in Abuja. He begged to be given more time to conclude the refund of the public funds allegedly looted by him and his co-defendant.
Recall that Nwabuoku and his co-defendant, Felix Nweke, are facing 11 counts of money laundering to the tune of N1.6bn.
They are being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The defendants were accused of committing to the act while Nwabuoku served as the Director of Finance and Accounts in the Ministry of Defence between 2019 and 2021.
“While Nwabuoku is the first defendant, Nweke is the second defendant in the charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/240/24 dated May 20 and filed on May 27 by EFCC counsel, Ekele Iheanacho,” The PUNCH stated.
Nwabuoku was appointed acting AGoF on May 20, 2022, under ex-President Muhammadu Buhari. He acted in the AGoF after Ahmed Idris was suspended as AGF over alleged N80bn fraud.
However, Nwabuoku was removed in July 2022, just few weeks after assuming the office.
According to The PUNCH, when the matter was called on Wednesday, the defendants prayed the court to halt their arraignment until another date to perfect the refund.
This is even as Nweke’s lawyer, Emeka Onyeaka, informed the court that there was a new development in the case.
He informed the court that his client had taken steps towards settling the matter.
Onyeaka stated that Nweke had made substantial refunds of the money traced to him by the anti-graft agency.
“The second defendant has taken steps, as there is a communication to the Commission vis-a-vis the alleged offences on making a refund.
“The Commission is in receipt of the money and promised to communicate to us,” he said.
“We communicated with the Commission and we were asked to tarry for their administrative procedure.”
Onyeaka argued that since a substantial amount had been refunded, if his client was arraigned, such action would affect the trial.
He, therefore, prayed the court to grant them an adjournment to take further steps on the administrative procedure.
In his submission, the counsel to Nwabuoku, Maduakolam Igwe, aligned with Onyeaka’s position.
He stated that his client had equally taken the same steps and that a substantial amount had been refunded.
Igwe said, “We have written to the Commission on this. The first defendant has also made some refunds.
“May I adopt the submission of my learned friend to tidy up the administrative procedure.”
In her response, the counsel for the EFCC, Ogechi Ujam, acknowledged receipt of the letter.
But maintained that, “No negotiation has been made. No settlement has been done and no agreement has been reached by parties.
source: PUNCH
Follow us for more news on our WhatsApp News Channels @
https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaC505jB4hdZ5Yx9g82U
