Sadiya Umar Farouq and Bashir Nura Alkali were scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday before the court but failed to appear. Only the third defendant, Sani Nafiu Mohammed, was present in court.
The trio are to be arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a 21-count charge bordering on criminal breach of trust, abuse of office, fraudulent award of contracts, and conversion of public funds amounting to about $1,300,000 (One Million, Three Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) and ₦746,574,303 (Seven Hundred and Forty-Six Million, Five Hundred and Seventy-Four Thousand, Three Hundred and Three Naira).
Count one of the charge reads:
“That you, Sadiya Umar Farouq, while serving as Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, and Bashir Nura Alkali, while serving as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, between May 8, 2021 and September 22, 2022, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, and in such capacities entrusted with certain property to wit, an aggregate sum of $1,300,000.00 (One Million, Three Hundred Thousand United States Dollars), committed criminal breach of trust in respect of the said property when you fraudulently converted the said sum to your personal benefit, which sum was meant to be refunded to the Ministry by Visual ICT Limited, being excess funds paid under the National Social Safety Net Coordinating Office (NASSCO) for the validation of Rapid Response Register beneficiaries, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 315 of the Penal Code and punishable under the same section.”
Prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), informed the court that the charge had been filed since December 15, 2025, but the first and second defendants could not initially be served.
“We could not arraign them on December 15 because we could not produce them. Their lawyers had promised to produce them, but we did not see them until your Lordship made an order for service. The defendants have now been served, my Lord, but only the third defendant has reported to the Commission after his surety was contacted. The third defendant’s surety is also in court,” he said.
Jacobs further informed the court that the first defendant had written to the Commission in 2024, stating she was travelling to Saudi Arabia for a medical check-up, and her passport was released to her for that purpose.
“My Lord, since that passport was released to her, she has not returned it to the Commission. We do not have any medical report from Saudi Arabia to date. Only this morning, my learned friend served me with an affidavit of facts, wherein the deponent claimed that the first defendant took ill. However, all the medical reports attached were issued after the charge had been filed. No medical report was provided at the time the passport was released,” he said.
Counsel to the first defendant, Abdul Ibrahim (SAN), informed the court that her absence was due to ill health. He also sought to tender an affidavit of facts, but the court rejected the application.
Jacobs further told the court that the EFCC intended to amend an ex parte motion filed on February 16, 2026, to limit the application to only the first and second defendants. He then prayed the court to issue a warrant of arrest against them.
“We are praying your Lordship to issue a bench warrant against the first and second defendants. This application is supported by an affidavit deposed to by one Celeb Peter on April 15, 2026, showing that the defendants were granted bail but failed to report back. The charge has been filed and served on them, yet they failed to appear before the court today. It is imperative, therefore, for this Honourable Court to permit the Commission to arrest them so that they can be compelled to appear,” he said.
Counsel to the defence, on the other hand, urged the court to allow him six weeks to produce the first defendant in court.
In a ruling on the applications, Justice Onwuegbuzie issued a bench warrant for the arrest of the first and second defendants and adjourned the matter to May 18, 2026, for arraignment and trial.
Dele Oyewale
Head, Media & Publicity
April 16, 2026
