The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and the State Security Services (SSS) to investigate a court registrar, Nasiru Zubairu, and the second defendant, Daudu Sulaiman, over alleged tampering with evidence in an ongoing N10 billion fraud trial.
The order followed a disclosure by the judge, James Omotosho, that the registrar allegedly confessed to him that Mr Sulaiman approached him to delete certain WhatsApp messages from a mobile phone admitted as Exhibits N and O in the case.
In his ruling on Thursday, the judge played what he described as the registrar’s confession in open court and directed Mr Zubairu to publicly narrate what transpired between him and the defendant.
“I have to disclose it because that is what the Chief Judge told us, to ensure we disclose such a thing as early as possible. We have a policy of discovery and disclosure at the Federal High Court.
“We have zero tolerance for this kind of attitude. The person involved is here, I will call him so that you will hear from the horse’s mouth,” the judge said in a statement shared with PREMIUM TIMES by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) spokesperson Dele Oyewale on Thursday.
Mr Sulaiman is the second defendant in a N10 billion money laundering trial in which he is charged alongside Ali Bello, a nephew of former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello. Ali and his co-defendants in the case face prosecution for allegedly diverting N10 billion in Kogi State’s funds during Mr Bello’s tenure as governor of the state. Mr Bello himself is facing fraud charges before two separate court on charges that stemmed from his activities during his eight years in office as governor.
Addressing the court during Thursday’s proceedings, Mr Zubairu, the registrr, admitted that the second defendant allegedly approached him and asked what he needed.
He said he told Mr Sulaiman he had accommodation challenges. “I was asked to delete certain information, some WhatsApp messages in the exhibits, on the promise that I would be given a house,” the registrar told the court.
Mr Omotosho subsequently granted permission to the Director of Public Prosecution, Rotimi Oyedepo, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), to lead the prosecution’s investigating officer, Muhammed Abubakar, an operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to confirm whether chats had indeed been deleted from the phone.
Mr Abubakar informed the court that several messages contained in Exhibits N and O, spanning 2020 to 2022, had been deleted.
Earlier, Mr Omotosho asked the registrar to specify which chats he had deleted.
Mr Zubairu said he could not recall the details but admitted that he had opened only two chats.
“I can’t remember, but I opened only two chats,” he told the court.
Under further examination, EFCC operative Muhammed Abubakar informed the court that several messages between 3 and 28 December 2020, were missing.
He noted that there was no entry for 23 December, as the conversation stopped on 22 December and resumed on 29 December 2020.
Mr Abubakar added that while a message dated 13 January 2021, reading “Abdurasheed will bring it to Abuja now” was still present, subsequent entries had been deleted.
He further stated that messages from 22 January 2021, including “Hudu will bring it now,” were missing, as were entries from 26 January 2021, such as “Hudu is bringing N100m.”
Other deleted messages cited in court included: “N60m is on transit from Friday… they are on their way coming” (January 30, 2021); “Hudu is on his way to Abuja… he is also coming with N30m”; “Mr Ododo has collected N50m and will be coming tomorrow to Abuja” (August 30, 2021); “Hudu is on his way, coming with N93m, N7m for TJ and for 2 Jan 2022”; and a February 28, 2022, message referencing Mr Rabiu.
Mr Abubakar told the court that he had previously come across these deleted chats during the course of his investigation.
Call for forensic examination, bail cancellation
Reacting, Mr Oyedepo urged the court to order a forensic investigation of Exhibit N and to revoke the second defendant’s bail.
“There is a very urgent and irresistible suspicion that Exhibit N, which contains crucial evidence, has been tampered with,” he said.
Lawyer to the defendant expressed shock at the development but urged the court to await the outcome of the forensic investigation before taking further steps.
Mr Omotosho directed the police and SSS to investigate the alleged tampering and adjourned the case to 9 February, for continuation of the trial.
Background
The trial has been ongoing since the EFCC filed charges against Messrs Bello and Sulaiman in 2022, accusing them of fraud and money laundering involving Kogi State Government funds.
Mr Bello, the Chief of Staff to the currently Kogi State Governor, Usman Ododo, is the first defendant, while Mr Sulaiman is the second.
Other persons named but not directly charged in the case include Abdulsalami Hudu, the cashier of the Kogi State House Administration, and former Governor Yahaya Bello.
In February 2024, Mr Omotosho dismissed a motion seeking to strike out the 17 amended counts filed by the EFCC, ruling that the prosecution was entitled to amend charges before judgement and that the alleged offences, including property acquisitions and foreign exchange transactions, fell within the Abuja jurisdiction.
The defendants were ordered to take their pleas.
In June 2024, the trial was adjourned to 15 July after cross-examination of EFCC witness Olom Egoro, a staff member of Access Bank. Egoro testified that the EFCC requested bank statements related to the Kogi State Government House account between 2018 and 2021, detailing deposits and withdrawals, including N10 million in multiple tranches.
He clarified that there was no record linking Bello to any transactions and that the bank’s ICT Department, not the compliance unit, manages the servers generating transaction data.
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In April 2025, Mr Omotosho also threatened to send the EFCC case file to the Chief Judge, John Tsoho, for reassignment following a complaint by Mr Bello’s lawyer, Abubakar Aliyu, also SAN.
Mr Aliyu alleged that the EFCC published inaccurate accounts of court proceedings on its website, claiming Mr Bello purchased a house at Ikogosi Close in Maitama District and later returned related documents.
The judge warned that publishing fictitious stories about court proceedings could undermine public confidence in the judiciary and affect the integrity of the court.
