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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday arraigned Bauchi State Commissioner for Finance, Yakubu Adamu, on N4.65 billion money laundering charges.
He and his co-defendant, Ayab Agro Products and Freight Company Ltd, were arraigned before trial judge Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
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They face six counts of conspiracy, money laundering, and unlawful acquisition of funds.
The commission, in the charges filed on 19 December, alleged that Mr Adamu committed the offences in 2023 as the Polaris Bank’s branch manager in Bauchi.
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It accused the defendants of channelling the funds, through a series of complex transactions to disguise the proceeds of unlawful activity.
Mr Nwite had last Wednesday (24 December) directed the EFCC to produce Mr Adamu for arraignment today, after the commission twice failed to present him in court.
The defendants pleaded not guilty to all the charges read to them in court on Tuesday.
After the plea taking, lead defence lawyer, Gordy Uche, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), told the court that a bail application had been filed on 19 December, supported by a 25-paragraph affidavit. “We adopt all paragraphs and rely on all the exhibits,” he said.
“We also filed a written address relying on all the arguments in this application and urging your Lordship to grant the same as prayed,” he added. He further noted that no additional affidavit would be filed, as the defence had “been served with the prosecution’s counter-affidavit.”
Mr Uche also reminded the court that the first defendant, as the commissioner of finance, was needed for the payment of state salaries, urging the “judge to consider this” and grant bail.
The prosecution, however, opposed the application. Its lawyer, Samuel Chime, referencing a 15-paragraph counter-affidavit which the EFCC filed on 21 December. He urged the court to refuse bail. He also requested an accelerated hearing of the matter.
After listening to the lawyers, the judge ordered the remand of Mr Adamuin Kuje Correctional Centre pending the ruling on the bail application.
But the prosecution lawyer, Mr Chime, pleaded that the defendants should remain in EFCC custody, as he is also involved in another pending charge to be taken up tomorrow (Wednesday) alongside other defendants.
The court adjourned the case until 2 January 2026 and ordered that the defendants remain in EFCC custody pending the arraignment scheduled for Wednesday. The judge ordered the transfer of the defendant to prison after the planned arraignment and pending the ruling on the bail application.
Charges
According to the EFCC, Mr Adamu, while acting as Branch Manager of Polaris Bank Ltd in Bauchi, allegedly conspired with Ishaku Mohammed Aliyu, Managing Director of Makayye Investment Resources Ltd, and Muntaka Mohammed Duguri, both said to be at large, to launder about N4.65 billion between June and December 2023.
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The prosecution alleged that the funds were provided under the guise of financing motorcycles for the Bauchi State Government through Emmanuel Asomugha General Enterprises, but that the motorcycles were never supplied.
Another count accused the defendants of retaining and transferring proceeds of an unlawful act through nominees and third parties, including the alleged transfer of N165.9 million to Ayab Agro Products and Freight Company Ltd.
The EFCC said the offence violated and is punishable under the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
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