Nigeria’s comptroller general of public finance has been arrested for his alleged involvement in a case of embezzlement of about 80 billion naira (€184 million) in public funds, the Anti-corruption Agency announced.
Summoned several times, Ahmed Idris, administrative head of the Nigerian Treasury since 2015, was arrested, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said in a statement. He is facing charges of fraud and money laundering.
According to the EFCC, Idris “extracted funds through fake consulting companies and other illegal activities using agents, family members and close associates.”
These funds, according to the commission, were then invested by Idris in real estate in Abuja, the capital, and in his home state of Kano, in northern Nigeria. Ahmed Idris has not commented on the charges. President Muhammadu Buhari, a former army general, was elected in 2015 on a promise to fight endemic corruption in the country, the continent’s top oil producer.
Under his leadership, the EFCC has secured a series of high-profile convictions, including of ministers, state governors, senior civil servants and prominent politicians.
Last year, the commission said it had recovered nearly $750 million (714 million euros). But critics accuse the EFCC, established in 2003, of conducting a witch hunt against the president’s opponents.