Author: Staff Editor
A prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Adoza Bello, on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, told the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Maitama, Abuja, that he paid between 50 and 60 percent of the commissions earned by his company from consultancy services rendered to the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service (KSIRS) to some officials of the agency. The witness, who testified as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s (EFCC) eighteenth prosecution witness (PW18), made the disclosure before Justice Maryanne Anenih while being led in evidence by the Commission’s lead counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN. The…
The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, presided over by Justice Maryann Anenih, has dismissed an application filed by former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Adoza Bello, seeking to strike out the charge brought against him in Charge No. FCT/CR/778/2024: FRN v. Yahaya Adoza Bello & 2 Ors. Bello, through his lead counsel, J.B. Daudu, SAN, and a team of senior advocates, urged the court to strike out the 16-count charge on the grounds that the court lacked territorial jurisdiction to entertain the matter. He also argued that the charge constituted an abuse of court process due to…
Proceedings in the ongoing corruption trial of former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai continued on Monday at the Federal High Court sitting in the state capital. El-Rufai was brought to the court at about 9:30 a.m., accompanied by officials of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigeria Police Force. The case, brought by the ICPC, involves allegations of abuse of office, fraud, and financial misconduct during his tenure as governor. Prosecutors allege that funds were improperly released for projects that were either not executed or…
Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, sitting in Apo, Abuja, on Monday, June 15, 2026, dismissed an application filed by counsel to a former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Sadiya Umar Farouq, seeking to set aside the bench warrant and warrant of arrest issued against her. Farouq, alongside two others — Bashir Nura Alkali and Sani Nafiu Mohammed — is to face prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged criminal conspiracy, abuse of office, and diversion of public funds amounting to $1.3 million and N746.7 million. Delivering his ruling on Monday, the judge…
The trial of a former governor of Taraba State, Darius Dickson Ishaku, and a former Permanent Secretary in the Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in the state, Bello Yero, continued on Monday, June 15, 2026, before Justice S.C. Oriji of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Maitama, Abuja, with the Third Prosecution Witness, PW3, Taiwo Johns, informing the court that money from local governments in the state was paid into his private account on the instruction of Yero and other officials of the Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs for disbursement. He further informed the court that…
Ahead of the 2027 general elections, the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ola Olukoyede, has called on Nigerians from all walks of life to work collaboratively toward ensuring peaceful, credible, and transparent elections, warning that vote buying and other forms of financial inducement remain major threats to democratic governance. Olukoyede made the call in Ilorin, Kwara State, on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, while delivering the inaugural lecture of the High-Level Guest Speakers’ Series organised by the Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies (CPSS), University of Ilorin. The lecture was themed: “Mobilising Critical Stakeholders for…
A Federal High Court sitting in Kaduna State has adjourned proceedings in the trial of a former governor of the state, Nasir El-Rufai, until June 24, 2026. The case, brought by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), involves allegations of abuse of office, fraud, and financial misconduct during his tenure as governor. El-Rufai, through his lawyers, has consistently denied all allegations against him. At the resumed trial on Monday, the former governor was brought to the court at about 9:30am, accompanied by ICPC officials and operatives of the Department of State Services and the police. Previous…
The Fifth Prosecution Witness (PW5) in the trial of former Minister of Power, Olu Agunloye, on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, clarified issues surrounding the certification of the extract of the minutes of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting of May 21, 2003, before Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Apo, Abuja, following a formal request by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for certified extracts of the meeting. The former minister is facing prosecution on an amended seven-count charge bordering on alleged official corruption and the fraudulent award of the Mambilla Power Project contract…
The 12th Prosecution Witness (PW12), Christopher Odofin, in the trial of former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Abubakar Sirika, on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, told Justice S.C. Oriji of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Abuja, how Sirika allegedly passed off an aircraft belonging to Ethiopian Airlines as the promised Nigeria Air by the government of the late President Muhammadu Buhari. The decoy aircraft, adorned with the livery of the proposed Nigeria Air, landed on the tarmac of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on May 27, 2023, three days before the expiration of the Buhari administration, and was flown…
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned three men and another suspect currently at large before the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja over an alleged ₦10 billion fraud involving Fidelity Bank Plc. The defendants, identified as Ibeh Emmanuel, Chidiebere Ihekoronye, Akubuo Chimuanya, and Austen Peaks Aniekan, who is currently at large, were brought before Justice Olubusola A. Okunuga on Wednesday on a five-count charge bordering on conspiracy, obtaining by false pretence, possession of fraudulent documents, and forgery. According to the EFCC, the defendants allegedly conspired to fraudulently obtain ₦10 billion from Fidelity Bank Plc through forged…