Olusegun Akindele, Mohammed Usman, and Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited are also defendants.

On July 22, they were arraigned before a vacation judge, Justice Adeyemi Ajayi, on a 13-count charge of misappropriation of N109.5 billion.

However, when the court reconvened, the case was assigned to Justice Yusuf Halilu.

They all entered not guilty pleas to the charges levelled against them.

Following their not-guilty plea, counsel for Idris, Chris Uche (SAN), prayed the court to allow the defendants to continue to enjoy the earlier bail granted them by the court on July 28

He submitted that they have been complying with their bail conditions.

Counsel for other defendants aligned themselves with Uche’s application and submission.

The EFCC counsel, Oluwaleke Atolagbe, did not object to the application.

He, however, left the decision to the court to exercise its discretion.

Ruling on the application, Justice Halilu held that bail is a constitutional right of a defendant.

He, however, directed that defendants submit their passports to the court’s registrar.

The judge added that if the documents are with the prosecution, they should pass the same to the registrar.

The case was adjourned until November 23 by Justice Halilu.

According to the EFCC, between February and December 2021, Idris accepted a gratification of N15. 1 billion from Akindele in exchange for accelerating the payment of 13% derivation to the federation’s nine oil-producing states through the office of the Accountant General of the Federation.

The anti-graft agency also claimed that the first and second defendants converted N84. 3 billion from the Federal Government’s account between February and November 2021.