Five Years Are Served In Prison For Fraud By Yobe’s Auditor General.
Alhaji Idris Yahaya, the Yobe State auditor general for local government, was given a five-year jail term on Monday by Judge Muhammad Lawu Lawan of the Yobe State High Court.
A one-count allegation of criminal misuse of money in the amount of N19, 900,000.00 brought against Yahaya by the Maiduguri Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, was found to be true, and he was found guilty.
Yahaya received funds from the Office of the Auditor General for Local Government and Emirate Affairs, Yobe State, for the purchase of an official vehicle, a 2015 Toyota Corolla, and diverted part of the money to his personal use, according to EFCC spokesperson Wilson Uwujaren, who made this disclosure in a statement on Monday.
The one-count complaint states: “That on May 20 and 21, 2017, at Damaturu, Yobe State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, you, Yahaya Lawal Idris, being the Auditor General for Local Government, received the sum of N19,900,000.00 through your personal account number 1001480930 with account name Alhaji Yahaya Idris domiciled in United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) from the Local Government Audit Account Number 5030030060 domiciled
When the defendant was first charged on November 9, 2022, he entered a not guilty plea, paving the way for a full trial.
Mukhtar Ali Ahmed, the EFCC’s attorney, called four witnesses throughout the trial and offered papers that were accepted as evidence.
In his ruling on Monday, Judge Lawan said that the defendant had been found guilty on all charges since the prosecution had proven its case.
As a result, he gave him a 5-year jail term with a fine option.
The judge then ordered the defendant to either spend an extra two years in jail or pay N10, 100,000.00 in reparation to the Yobe State Government via the EFCC.
