Former AGF Begs Court To Allow Him Negotiate With EFCC Over N1.96bn Fraud:

Former Acting Accountant-General of the Federation, AGF, Anamekwe Nwabuoku, now facing trial over alleged N1.96billion fraud, has begged the Federal High Court      to give him time to negotiate with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
Nwabuoku spoke on Wednesday, before the court sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday.
The former AGF, is facing a nine-count charge, spoke made the appeal after the EFCC, through its lawyer, Mr. Ekele Iheanacho, SAN, ingormed the court that he brought five more witnesses to testify in the matter.
Iheancho was represented on the occasion 
 by a lawyer, Mr. Isidore Udenko even as the defendant, told the court that he had engaged the services of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, to help him to broker an out-of-court-settlement of the case.
Udenko further said that the matter proceeded to trial after the defendant’s initial attempt to reach an agreement with the anti-graft agency, failed.
However, Iheanacho, said he was not opposed to the request by the defendant.
According to him, “Even though our five witnesses are in court and we are ready to go on with the trial, however, if request of the defendant will meet the justice of the case, we will not be opposing."
The presiding judge, Justice James Omotosho then, deferred further proceedings in the case till March 13, 2025, and adjourned the case for either report of settlement or for continuation of hearing.
It will be recalled that Nwabuoku was in May 2022, appointed to temporarily take charge of the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), after the then AGF, Ahmed Idris, was suspended from office and eventually placed on trial for allegedly laundering public funds totalling about N80.2billion.
EFCC later had earlier alleged that the Acting AGF, Nwabuoku, had before his appointment, also dipped his hands into the till.
Investigations into the allegation led to his removal from the office in July 2022, few weeks after he was appointed and he was then, subsequently charged to court alongside a Director in the Federal Civil Service, Mr. Felix Nweke.
However, EFCC later amended the charge and delisted Nweke as the 2nd defendant after he agreed to testify as prosecution witness gainst Nwabuoku. 
In the amended charge with number FHC/ABJ/CR/240/24, the EFCC alleged that Nwabuoku committed an offence that was contrary to Section 18 of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 2011, as amended by Act No. 1 of 2012, and punishable under Section 15(3) of the same Act.
The court had earlier been told how the defendant used four different companies to siphon public funds to the tune of about N1.96billion.