Dasuki’s Trial: Defendants Made Their Statements Without Duress, Under Caution-Witness

The Third Prosecution Witness, PW3, Salihu Kadiri in the trial of the former National Security Adviser, NSA, Colonel Sambo Dasuki (retd) alongside Aminu Baba Kusa, Acacia Holdings Limited and Reliance Referral Hospital Limited on Wednesday, April 22, 2026 asserted in a trial-within-trial before Justice Charles Agbaza of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, High Court that the defendants made their extrajudicial statements voluntarily and under caution.

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Dasuki and the three others are facing prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC on a 32-count charge, bordering on breach of trust and dishonesty to the tune of N33,200,000,000 (Thirty-Three billion, Two Hundred Million Naira).

Justice Agbaza had ordered a trial-within-trial after counsel to the second and fourth defendants, Richard Ebie and A.O. Ayodele, respectively, objected to the admissibility of their clients’ extrajudicial statements in the EFCC on ground that they were not voluntarily made, thus incompatible with Sections 15(4) and 17(3) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act ACJA.

The witness, an investigator with the EFCC while being led in evidence by prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, told the court that he took the statements of the second defendant as contained in Exhibit TWTA4 in TWTA1 to TWTA7 and affirmed that the defendant wrote his statement inside an EFCC office with his team members and other staff of the Commission present and that the witness made his statement voluntarily after words of caution were read to him.

In his cross examination of the witness, counsel to the second defendant, Solomon Umoh, SAN, sought to know if there were visitation records of staff members of Acacia Holdings Limited to the defendants while they were in the Commission’s custody, to which he replied in the affirmative.

EFCC

When further asked if video and CCTV recordings were made of the second defendant while writing his statement, the witness replied in the negative, stating that the law did not stipulate that such a video recording should be made. He, however, said that there was a CCTV camera recording but asked the court to note that it was done about 10 years ago.

Counsel to the fourth defendant A.O. Ayodele demanded to know why the witness did not append his signature on the dotted lines for the witness, to which he said that his signing was not a requirement in law, but observed that his handwriting is on the statement.

The judge adjourned the matter till May 15 and 29, 2026 for the defence to open its case.

ICPC Secures 24-Year Jail Term For Dismissed NECO Staff Over Certificate Forgery

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has secured the conviction of a dismissed staff member of the National Examinations Council (NECO), Abdulwahab Sule, for offences bordering on certificate forgery and related corrupt practices.

The conviction was delivered by the High Court of Niger State sitting in Minna, presided over by Honourable Justice Abdullahi Mikailu, in Charge No: NSHC/ICPC/1C/2023.

Mr. Sule, who was dismissed from NECO in 2020 following the discovery of irregularities in his credentials, was found guilty on a three-count charge of dishonestly using a forged document as genuine, possession of a forged document, and making false statements.

Investigations by the ICPC revealed that the convict fraudulently used a forged Diploma certificate purportedly issued by the Federal University of Technology, Yola (now Modibbo Adama University, Yola) to secure employment with NECO in January 2009, where he remained until his dismissal in September 2020.

Further findings showed that the certificate, dated March 18, 2008, did not emanate from the institution, as confirmed by the university during verification.

The Commission also established that the convict had not completed his studies and still had outstanding courses at the time he claimed to have graduated.

In addition, Mr. Sule was found to have knowingly made false representations to NECO’s Director of Human Resource Management in August 2020, falsely claiming that he had obtained the Diploma certificate.

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During ICPC’s investigation, the convict admitted that he did not complete his studies and disclosed that he paid the sum of N30,000 to procure the forged certificate from an individual.

Upon conviction, the Court sentenced him to twelve (12) years imprisonment on Count One, ten (10) years on Count Two, and two (2) years on Count Three. The sentences are to run concurrently, meaning he will effectively spend twelve (12) years in prison.

ICPC

The ICPC reiterates its commitment to sanitising public institutions and warns that individuals who engage in forgery, falsification of records, and other corrupt practices will be brought to justice.

The Commission also urges organisations to sustain regular verification of staff credentials to prevent similar occurrences and strengthen institutional integrity.

J. Okor Odey
Head, Media and Public Communications, ICPC

High Court Admits Nine Exhibits Against Malami, Family

A Federal High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja and presided over by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik on Monday, April 20, 2026 admitted nine exhibits against a former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, alongside his wife, Hajia Bashir Asabe, and his son, Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami.

The exhibits were presented before the court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in its ongoing trial of the former Minister and some family members.

The EFCC is prosecuting the defendants on an amended 16-count charge bordering on conspiracy, procuring, disguising, concealing and laundering proceeds of unlawful activities to the tune of N8,713,923,759.49 (Eight Billion, Seven Hundred and Thirteen Million, Nine Hundred and Twenty-Three Thousand, Seven Hundred and Fifty-Nine Naira, Forty-Nine Kobo), contrary to the provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

The exhibits, which are documentary in nature, were tendered through the fourth prosecution witness, Mashelia Arhyel Bata, a compliance officer with Zenith Bank Plc.

Led in evidence by prosecution counsel, J. S. Okutepa, SAN, the witness told the court that, in the course of his official duties, he received correspondence from the EFCC requesting documents relating to several accounts linked to the defendants and associated entities.

“I work as a compliance officer with Zenith Bank, Maitama branch. My duty includes receiving correspondence from law enforcement agencies and responding accordingly,” he said.

Bata further disclosed that the bank complied with EFCC’s requests by providing both soft and hard copies of documents relating to accounts belonging to the defendants and companies such as Rayhaan Hotels Limited, Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited, Nashab Limited, Golden Age Global Ventures, and Rahamaniyya Properties Limited.

“My lord, the documents are nine,” he stated, confirming his ability to identify them when presented in court.

Upon application by Okutepa, the court admitted the documents, dated between July 19, 2024 and March 12, 2026, as Exhibits D1 to D9, despite an initial objection by defence counsel, J. B. Daudu, SAN, who noted that “the dates are almost all in March.”

Continuing his testimony under further examination by prosecution counsel, Ekele Iheanacho, SAN, the witness provided details of transactions contained in the exhibits.

He identified Exhibit D1 as containing account opening documents and statements for accounts belonging to Abubakar Malami and A.A. Malami & Co, including a naira account and a dollar account.

According to him, the statement of account for one of the accounts covered the period from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2023.

The witness confirmed that the accounts were active between 2015 and 2023, noting that “there were transfers within that period.”

He further revealed that total credits into one of the accounts stood at N383,637,21.55 between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2023, while total credits from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2015 amounted to N560,506,465.12.

On debits, he stated that N384,322,120.85 was recorded between 2016 and 2023, while N571,891,174.08 was debited between 2012 and 2015.

Malami

Giving further breakdown of transactions, the witness told the court that on November 11, 2020, the account received N194,791,608.00 from New Horizons Limited, and on June 24, 2022, it received N622,500,000.00 from Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited.

He added that on July 1 and July 7, 2022, the account received N250 million each from Rayhaan Hotels Limited, while on December 22, 2022, there was an inflow of N500 million linked to Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited.

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Continuing in that format, the witness identified so many transactions running into billions.

Following the testimony, the defence counsel, J.B Daudu SAN sought an adjournment to enable him study the exhibits and prepare for cross-examination.

“My lord, we need time to go through the nine exhibits tendered,” Daudu said.

Justice Abdulmalik subsequently adjourned the matter till May 13, 2026, for continuation of trial.