The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) will on Wednesday, December 24, arraign Yakubu Adamu, the Bauchi State Commissioner for Finance, over an alleged N4.6 billion money laundering case.
Adamu will be charged alongside a company, Ayab Agro Products and Freight Company Ltd, before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja. The case is contained in a six-count charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/694/2025.
The arraignment was earlier scheduled for Tuesday but could not take place due to the absence of both the EFCC’s lawyer and the defendants.
However, Adamu’s legal team, led by Gordy Uche, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), was present in court. Following this, the judge adjourned the case to December 24 for the defendants to enter their plea.
According to the charge filed on December 19 by Samuel Chime of the EFCC’s Legal and Prosecution Department, Adamu is listed as the first defendant, while Ayab Agro Products and Freight Company Ltd is the second defendant.
The EFCC alleged that Adamu committed the offence while he was serving as a branch manager of Polaris Bank in Bauchi.
He is accused of conspiring with Ishaku Mohammed Aliyu, Managing Director of Makayye Investment Resources Ltd, and Muntaka Mohammed Duguri, both of whom are currently at large, between June and December 2023.
The anti-graft agency claimed that the defendants facilitated the conversion, transfer, concealment, and use of about N4.65 billion.
The money was allegedly released by Polaris Bank under the guise of financing the supply of motorcycles to the Bauchi State Government through Emmanuel Asomugha General Enterprises.
According to the EFCC, the motorcycles were never supplied. The commission said the act contravenes Section 21(a) and is punishable under Section 21 of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
In one of the counts, the EFCC also accused Adamu and his alleged co-conspirators of retaining and transferring proceeds of unlawful activities by channeling parts of the funds through nominees and third-party accounts in 2023.
The prosecution further alleged that N165.9 million was transferred to Ayab Agro Products and Freight Company Ltd through I.S. Makayye Investment Resources Ltd, describing the money as part of the proceeds of an unlawful act.
The offence is said to be contrary to Section 20(a) and punishable under Section 20 of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
