Ex-acting accountant-general, co-defendant beg court for time to refund alleged loot

A former acting Accountant-General of the Federation, Anamekwe Nwabuoku, and his co-defendant have begged the Federal High Court, Abuja, to give them time to return the public funds they allegedly looted.

Mr Nwabuoku and Felix Nweke, former deputy director at the Ministry of Defence, are facing 11 counts of money laundering involving an alleged diversion of N1.6 billion belonging to the federal government.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which filed the charges against them on 27 May, accused them of perpetrating the alleged fraud during Mr Nwabuoku’s previous role as the Director of Finance and Accounts in the Ministry of Defence between 2019 and 2021.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that, on Wednesday, Mr Nwabuoku and his co-defendant urged the judge, James Omotosho, to halt their arraignment until they perfect the out-of-court settlement.

When the matter was called on Wednesday for the defendants to take their plea, Mr Nweke’s lawyer, Emeka Onyeaka, informed the court of “a new development” concerning the case.

Mr Onyeaka notified the court that his client had taken steps toward settling the matter.

The lawyer said Mr Nweke had made substantial refunds of the money traced to him by the anti-graft agency.

“The 2nd defendant has taken steps, as there is a communication to the commission via-a-vs the alleged offences on making a refund.

“The commission is in receipt of the money and promised to communicate to us,” he said.

Mr Onyeaka added, “Upon being served with the charge on Monday, we communicated with the commission, and we are asked to tarry for their administrative procedure.”

He said since a substantial amount had been refunded, the gesture could adversely affect him if the trial continued.

He, therefore, prayed the court to grant them an adjournment to take further steps on the administrative procedure.

Mr Nwabuoku’s lawyer, Maduakolam Igwe, aligned with Mr Onyeaka’s submission.

Mr Igwe said his client had equally taken the same steps and that a substantial amount had been refunded.

“We have written to the commission on this. The 1st defendant has also made some refunds,” the lawyer said.
He also asked for time “to tidy up the administrative procedure” concerning the settlement.

EFCC denies agreement with defendants, judge adjourns case

Although the EFCC’s lawyer, Ogechi Ujam, acknowledged that the commission had received a proposal letter from the defendants, she said, “no negotiation has been made”.

“No settlement has been done and no agreement has been reached by parties,” he added.

He, therefore, urged the court to order the defendants to take their plea.

However the judge opted to adjourn the matter without commenting on the issues raised by the parties.

He fixed 14 October for arraignment.

Nwaobuoku’s stint as acting accountant-general

Mr Nwabuoku was appointed acting Accountant-General of the Federation on 20 May 2022 during the administration of then-President Muhammadu Buhari.

His appointment followed the suspension of the then Accountant-General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, to face trial for N109 billion fraud. Mr Idris is facing a trial at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

Mr Nwabuoku was removed in July 2022, a few weeks after he assumed the acting role.

Sylva Okolieaboh, a Director at the Treasury Single Account (TSA) Department, replaced Mr Nwabuoku as acting accountant-general.

Mr Okolieaboh’s appointment followed a report that Mr Nwabuoku was under EFCC investigation.

Charges

The EFCC alleged that Mr Nwabuoku, Mr Nweke, Temeeo Synergy Concept Limited (said to be at large), Turge Global Investment Limited (said to be at large), Laptev Bridge Limited (said to be at large), Arafura Transnational Afro Limited (said to be at large) and other persons (at large) converted funds which are proceeds of unlawful activities to personal use.

The offence is contrary to section 18 of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 2011 (as amended by Act No. 1 of 2012) and punishable under Section 15(2) (b) and (3) of the same Act.

Under Count 2, EFCC also alleged that Mr Nwabuoku, Mr Nweke, Temeeo Synergy Concept Limited indirectly converted N262.6 billion (N262, 602,897.27) between September 2019 and October 2020 in Abuja

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The money was alleged to have been paid into the Zenith Bank account of Temeeo Synergy Concept Limited with account num
ber 1016901286, knowing that the funds constituted proceeds of unlawful activity.

The offence, the EFCC said, is contrary to section 15(2) (b) and punishable under Section 15(3) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended by Act No. 1 of 2012).

(NAN)