Court orders forfeiture of former accountant-general Ahmed Idris’ $900,000, 15 houses

A court in Abuja has ordered the interim forfeiture of some assets of the Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, who is standing trial for stealing N109 billion from the government.

The assets of Mr Idris forfeited temporarily to the government include the sums of $899,900 and N304,490,160.95, according to top sources at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

They also include 15 properties in Kano and Abuja.

PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court ordered the interim forfeiture of the assets on 13 December.

Over N30 billion worth of assets have been seized from Mr Idris since his arrest in May, EFCC chair, Abdulrasheed Bawa, told State House reporters in Abuja on 15 December.

“On the case of the former Accountant General of the Federation Idris Ahmed, we at the EFCC have recovered N30 billion from him,” Mr Bawa said during the 62nd Ministerial Media Briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

PREMIUM TIMES reports that a judge of the FCT High Court, M.A Hassan, made the order of interim forfeiture of a batch of the assets of Mr Idris in a ruling delivered on 13 December on a motion exparte filed by the EFCC.

The EFCC, in the motion marked M/1149/2022, prayed the court for “an order of interim attachment/ forfeiture of the properties in the Schedule to the application, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive case in Charge No. FCT/ HC/CR/299/2022, Federal Republic of Nigeria V. Ahmed Idris and Others.”

The commission also sought an order approving the interim “management of the assets and properties in the Schedule to this application to the applicant”.

It also urged the court to make an order “to open an interest yielding account where monies realised from the management of the assets and properties of the persons stated in the Schedule to this application shall be paid”.

It also prayed for an order “freezing the Bank Accounts of the persons referred to as account holders/ or the bank accounts set out in the Schedule to this application”.

All orders prayed for are to subsist “pending the hearing and determination of the substantive case.”