A former acting Accountant-General of the Federation, Anamekwe Nwabuoku, who is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for money laundering, on Wednesday pleaded with Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja to be patient with him to conclude the refund of the public funds allegedly looted by him and his co-defendant.
Nwabuoku is being prosecuted alongside Felix Nweke and facing 11 counts of money laundering to the tune of N1.6bn.
The two allegedly committed the act while Nwabuoku was the Director of Finance and Accounts in the Ministry of Defence between 2019 and 2021.
Nwabuoku, who is the first defendant, was appointed acting Accountant General of the Federation on May 20, 2022, under the Buhari administration after the suspension of Ahmed Idris over alleged N80bn fraud, but was removed in July 2022, just few weeks after his appointment.
When the case came up for hearing on Wednesday, the defendants pleaded with the court to halt their arraignment until another date to perfect the refund.
Nweke’s lawyer, Emeka Onyeaka, told the court that there was a new development in the case as his client had taken steps towards settling the matter.
The lawyer said his client had made substantial refunds of the money traced to him by the anti-graft agency with proof of payment.
“The second 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.
The defence counsel said upon being served with the charge, “We communicated with the commission and we were asked to tarry for their administrative procedure.”
Source: PUNCH Online
