On Thursday, February 22, 2024, the Gombe Division of the Court of Appeal upheld the conviction of Alhaji Idris Yahaya, the Auditor General for Local Government in Yobe State.
Alhaji Idris Yahaya was found guilty and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment on Monday, March 13, 2023, by Justice Muhammad Lawu Lawan of the Yobe State High Court. This ruling came after he was prosecuted by the Maiduguri Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a charge of criminal misappropriation amounting to Nineteen Million, Nine Hundred Thousand Naira (N19,900,000.00).
Yahaya had received funds from the Office of the Auditor General for Local Government and Emirate Affairs, Yobe State, purportedly for the purchase of an official vehicle, a 2015 Toyota Corolla. However, he diverted a portion of these funds for personal use.
The single count against Yahaya reads as follows: “That you, Yahaya Lawal Idris, being the Auditor General for Local Government, Yobe State, between the 20th to 21st day of May, 2017, at Damaturu, Yobe State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, received the sum of N19,900,000.00 via 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 in Fidelity Bank Plc for the purchase of a brand new Toyota Corolla 2015 Model, did dishonestly misappropriate the gross sum of N10,100,000.00 (Ten Million, One Hundred Thousand Naira) only.”
Subsequently, dissatisfied with the verdict, Yahaya appealed to the higher court, presenting five grounds of appeal and urging the court to overturn Justice Lawan’s judgment.
In opposition to the appeal, counsel for the EFCC, Mukhtar Ali, urged the court to uphold the lower court’s judgment and dismiss the appeal, asserting that “the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.”
In its ruling delivered on Thursday, the three-member panel led by Honorable Justice A.A.B. Gumel upheld Yahaya’s conviction, unanimously dismissing the appeal and thereby affirming the judgment of the trial court.
