The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has said it did not force the former Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Ahmed Idris, into confessing his alleged involvement in N109bn fraud.

An operative of the EFCC, Abdulhamid I. Muri, whose duties involve intelligence gathering, conducting surveillance, undercover operations and interacting with informants, told the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Abuja on Tuesday during the continuation of the hearing in the 14-count charges bordering on money laundering brought against him by the EFCC.

EFCC arraigned Idris alongside Godfrey O. Akindele, Mohammed K. Usman, and Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited before the FCT High Court on 22nd July 2022.

However, during the sitting on Tuesday, Muri, who was also the third Prosecution Witness (PW3), in the ongoing trial-within-trial of the former AGF, told Justice Halilu Yusuf of the FCT, High Court that EFCC did not promise Idris that he was not going to face prosecution for his N109bn alleged loot.

While narrating how the defendant made his statement voluntarily, pointed out that the Commission did not make such promises to the defendant.

Muri said he first met the defendant through the former EFCC Kano Zonal Commander, Faruk Dogon Daji, who introduced him to the defendant and informed him that the defendant came to submit some documents linked to the investigation.

He said: “On the 10th June, 2022, the first defendant went to our office and met the then zonal commander, Mr Faruk Dogon Daji, an Assistant Commander of EFCC, ACEI, in his office and based on this, the Zonal Commander sent for me and told me that the first defendant came to submit some documents that are linked to the investigation that was on-going concerning him and that I should take him to my office to write a about the documents.

“The first defendant in the company of one Lawal Badamasi followed me to my office and the office is an open office where everybody can come in and go out and there in the office, there is one Mubarak, a staff of the Commission and Yusuf Baba Yusuf.

“I administered a cautionary word, I told him his rights, I wrote out the cautionary word and he said he understood and thereafter he volunteered his statement mentioning the documents one after the other and signed the documents with the date of that day.”

When confronted by the prosecution counsel, A.O. Atolagbe, with the allegation of the EFCC promising the defendant that the Commission will not prosecute him, Muri, said the Commission did not make such a promise to the defendant.

He said: “The first defendant is alleging that this statement of June 10, 2022, is a product of promise, that he will not be prosecuted, what is your take,” Atolagbe asked.

“It is not true my Lord; I am not the investigation officer, I am just directed to take his statement.”

According to Muri, the former AGF was not detained in the facility of the Kano Zonal Command of the Commission.

The judge then discharged the witness after the cross-examination and adjourned the matter till 29th October 2024, for defence of trial-within-trial after the counsel to the first defendant cross-examined the PW3.