A FORMER acting Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr Anamekwe Nwabuoku, has asked for more time in court to refund public funds allegedly stolen by him and his co-defendant.
Mr Nwabuoku and his co-defendant, Mr Felix Nweke, are facing an 11-count charge bordering on money laundering totalling N1.6 billion.
They are being charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for money laundering totalling N1.6 billion. The EFCC said the offence was committed while Mr Nwabuoku served as the Director of Finance and Accounts at the Ministry of Defence between 2019 and 2021.
Mr Nwabuoku pleaded with Justice James Omotoso of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday to accord him more time to refund the money.
Mr Nwabuoku is the first defendant, while Mr Nweke is the second defendant in the charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/240/24 dated May 20 and filed on May 27 by EFCC counsel, Mr Ekele Iheanacho, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported.
Mr Nwabuoku was appointed acting Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF) on May 20, 2022, during the tenure of former President Muhammadu Buhari. He succeeded Mr Ahmed Idris who was suspended over allegedly stealing N80 billion.
Mr Anamekwe Nwabuoku was removed a few weeks after assuming office.
Nwabuoku’s appointment
Nwabuoku’s acting AGF appointment had been conveyed in a letter dated May 20th, 2022 and signed by Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mr Aliyu Ahmed.
President Muhammadu Buhari’s former aide, Bashir Ahmad, had also confirmed Nwabuoku’s appointment via his X handle, Channels TV reported.
“Mr. Anamekwe Chukwunyere Nwabuoku has been appointed to oversee the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, pending the outcome of the EFCC investigation of the suspended AGF, Ahmad Idris,” he said.
Background
Nwabuoku was the Director, Inspectorate Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation before his acting AGF appointment.
He was born on October 15, 1962 to the family of Robert O. Anamekwe in Ehime Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State.
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He holds Higher National Diploma (HND) in Accountancy from the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT) Enugu, and Master of Science (M.Sc) in Financial Management from Common Wealth University, Belize.
He had a stint at the Centre for Democratic Studies (CDS) and rose to the position of Principal Accountant between 1992 and 1995.
He was deployed to the Office of the AGF, Abuja, from 1996 to 2001 as Assistant Chief Accountant. He served at the National Assembly, precisely at the Office of the Senate President from 2001 to 2003 as Special Assistant to the Senate President on Public Affairs.
He assumed duty as Chief Accountant in the Ministry of Defence Headquarters, Abuja and served as Head of Accounts Administration.
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Following his promotion to Assistant Director Accounts, he was placed in charge of funds in the Ministry from 2009 to 2012. He became a Deputy Director (Accounts) in 2012 and was deployed to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) as Supervisory Officer of Ecological Funds Accounts and other related matters.
He was promoted to Director (Accounts) in 2017 and was posted to Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation. He was the Director ( Finance and Accounts) Ministry of Defence, Headquarters, Abuja from May 2019 to March, 2021. This was when the EFCC claimed he stole and laundered the money.
