KEY POINTS

• Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.) and three others were re-arraigned over an alleged N33.2 billion fraud, marking the latest development in a case that has faced multiple adjournments since 2015.
• The trial has been plagued by delays, including a change of judges, incomplete witness testimonies, and DSS’s refusal to release Dasuki despite court-ordered bail.
• The case highlights systemic challenges in Nigeria’s anti-corruption efforts, with parallel trials involving other prominent figures and repeated legal setbacks prolonging justice.

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 the charges against Dasuki alongside a former General Manager of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Aminu Baba-Kusa, as well as two companies—Acacia Holdings Limited and Reliance Referral Hospital Limited.

According to ThePunch, the defendants are facing a 32-count charge bordering on alleged criminal breach of trust and dishonest release of public funds.

“The prosecution has substantial evidence linking the accused to the diversion of funds meant for national security,” an EFCC source disclosed.

Their re-arraignment before Justice Charles Agbaza follows the reassignment of the case by the FCT Chief Judge, Justice Hussein Baba-Yusuf, who was previously handling the matter. Legal analysts suggest the change in judges may further delay a trial that has already dragged on for nearly a decade.

A decade-long legal battle with multiple delays

Dasuki was first 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, and Salisu’s name was removed. Subsequently, Dasuki and the others were re-arraigned on May 11, 2018, on a fresh 32-count charge involving N33.2 billion.

However, the trial was stalled after the prosecution presented only one witness—the investigating officer—who was yet to conclude his testimony before the case was indefinitely adjourned.

“The EFCC is committed to ensuring justice, but procedural delays and legal hurdles have hampered progress,” stated a court official familiar with the case.

The EFCC had also filed another case against Dasuki in 2015, in which he was charged alongside a former Minister of State for Finance, Bashir Yuguda; a former Sokoto State governor, Attahiru Bafarawa; his son, Sagir Bafarawa; and his company, Dalhatu Investment Limited.

They faced a 25-count charge bordering on criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of N19.4 billion. That case was recently transferred to Justice Yusuf Halilu.