A former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.), and three others were re-arraigned on Tuesday before a Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja over an alleged N33.2 billion fraud.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) brought charges against Dasuki, a former General Manager of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Aminu Baba-Kusa, and two companies—Acacia Holdings Limited and Reliance Referral Hospital Limited.
The defendants face a 32-count charge of alleged criminal breach of trust and the dishonest release of public funds.
Their re-arraignment before Justice Charles Agbaza follows the case’s reassignment by the FCT Chief Judge, Justice Hussein Baba-Yusuf, who previously handled the matter.
Dasuki was initially arraigned on December 14, 2015, before Justice Baba-Yusuf, alongside a former Director of Finance and Administration in the Office of the National Security Adviser, Shuaibu Salisu, on a 19-count charge linked to an alleged N15.5 billion fraud.
The charges were later amended, removing Salisu’s name. Dasuki and others were then re-arraigned on May 11, 2018, on a fresh 32-count charge involving N33.2 billion.
The trial has faced multiple delays, partly due to the refusal of the Department of State Services to release Dasuki on bail despite court orders.
The EFCC had also filed another case against him in 2015 alongside former Minister of State for Finance Bashir Yuguda, former Sokoto State Governor Attahiru Bafarawa, his son Sagir Bafarawa, and Dalhatu Investment Limited.
That case, involving alleged misappropriation of N19.4 billion, was recently transferred to Justice Yusuf Halilu.
At the resumed hearing on Tuesday, the defendants pleaded not guilty. The prosecution counsel, Oluwaleke Atolagbe, requested a trial date, while defense lawyers urged the court to allow their clients to continue on their existing bail.
Justice Agbaza granted the request and adjourned the trial to July 1.
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