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The Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, has been arrested over alleged money laundering and diversion of public funds, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

Mr Idris was reportedly intercepted in Kano by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday evening and has been flown to Abuja, the nation’s capital, for interrogation.

The EFCC has for reportedly been investigating Mr Idris over a case of diversion of at least N80 billion in public funds which was allegedly laundered through some bogus contracts.

The companies allegedly used in laundering the funds have allegedly been linked to family members and associates of the accountant-general, according to investigators.

Mr Idris was arrested according to sources within the commission after failing to honour several invitations for interrogation.

“We kept inviting him but he kept dodging us,” one of our sources said. “We were left with no choice than to keep him under watch and arrest him.”

The spokesperson for the EFCC Mr Wilson Uwujaren however issued a Statement confirming the arrest.

The Statement reads in part “Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Monday, May 16, 2022 arrested serving Accountant General of the Federation, Mr. Ahmed Idris in connection with diversion of funds and money laundering activities to the tune of N80billion( Eighty Billion Naira only).

“The Commission’s verified intelligence showed that the AGF raked off the funds through bogus consultancies and other illegal activities using proxies, family members and close associates.

“The funds were laundered through real estate investments in Kano and Abuja.

Mr Idris was arrested after failing to honour invitations by the EFCC to respond to issues connected to the fraudulent acts.”

President Muhammadu Buhari had appointed Mr Ahmed Idris accountant-general on June 25, 2015.

The position became vacant at the time after the former Accountant General, Jonah Otunla, left office on June 12, 2015 on the Expiration of his tenure.

Mr Idris was reappointed by President Muhammadu Buhari for a second four-year term in June 2019, amid criticisms from labour groups who said the accountant-general should retire after turning 60.

Mr Idris, who is a native of Kano State, North-west Nigeria, was born on November 25, 1960, and was until his appointment as the accountant General in 2015 the Director of Finance and Accounts in the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is alerting telecom consumers and members of the public on an ongoing cyber-vulnerability that allows a nearby hacker to unlock vehicles, start their engines wirelessly and make away with the cars.

According to the Commission, the fact that car remotes are categorized as short-range devices that make use of radio frequency (RF) to lock and unlock cars informed the need to alert the general public of this emergent danger, where hackers take advantage to unlock and start a compromised car.

The Commission in the latest advisory released its Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT), said: “The vulnerability is a Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attack or, more specifically, a replay attack in which an attacker intercepts the RF signals normally sent from a remote key to the car, manipulates these signals, and re-sends them later to unlock the car at will.”

“With this latest type of cyber-attack, it is also possible to manipulate the captured commands and re-transmit them to achieve a different outcome altogether.

“Multiple researchers disclosed a vulnerability, which is said to be used by a nearby attacker to unlock some Honda and Acura car models and start their engines wirelessly. The attack consists of a threat actor capturing the radio frequency (RF) signals sent from your key fob to the car and resending these signals to take control of your car’s remote keyless entry system,” the Commission added.