Anamekwe Nwabuoku, a former acting Accountant-General of the Federation, begged Justice James Omotoso of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday to grant him further time to complete the reimbursement of the public funds that he and his co-defendant are accused of embezzling.
Nwabuoku and Felix Nweke, his co-defendant, are accused of 11 counts of money laundering totaling N1.6 billion. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is pursuing legal action against them.
The defendants were charged with committing the act between 2019 and 2021 when Nwabuoku was the Ministry of Defence’s Director of Finance and Accounts.
Nweke is the second defendant in the charge with the file number FHC/ABJ/CR/240/24, dated May 20, submitted by Ekele Iheanacho, the EFCC’s attorney, whilst Nwabuoku is the first defendant.
On May 20, 2022, acting AGoF Nwabuoku was appointed by former President Muhammadu Buhari following Ahmed Idris’ suspension as AGF due to a purported N80 billion scam. But a few weeks after taking office in July 2022, he was dismissed.
The defendants asked the court to postpone their arraignment so they could finalize the reimbursement when the case was called on Wednesday.
Emeka Onyeaka, Nweke’s attorney, told the judge of a recent development in the case. He informed the judge that his client had made efforts to settle.
According to the attorney, Nweke has returned a significant amount of the money that the anti-graft agency has linked to him.
“The second defendant has taken steps, as there is a communication to the commission via-a-vs the alleged offenses on making a refund. The commission is in receipt of the money and promised to communicate to us,” he said.
The defense counsel said upon being served with the charge, “We communicated with the commission and we were asked to tarry for their administrative procedure.”
He claimed that if his client was arraigned, it would have an impact on the trial because a significant amount had been reimbursed. To allow them to complete the administrative process, he begged the court for an adjournment.
Nwabuoku’s representative, Maduakolam Igwe, supported Onyeaka’s surrender.
According to Igwe, his client followed the same procedures and received a sizable reimbursement.
“We have written to the commission on this. The first defendant has also made some refunds.
“May I adopt the submission of my learner friend to tidy up the administrative procedure,” he corroborated.
Ogechi Ujam, the EFCC’s attorney, responded by acknowledging that the commission had received a proposal letter, but she also stated that “no negotiation has been made, no settlement has been done, and no agreement has been reached by parties.”
