A former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, 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 brought the charges against Dasuki alongside a former General Manager of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Aminu Baba-Kusa, as well as two companies.
The defendants are facing a 32-count charge bordering on alleged criminal breach of trust and dishonest release of public funds.
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.
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 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.
The case was recently transferred to Justice Yusuf Halilu.
Both trials suffered multiple delays due to the refusal of the Department of State Services to release Dasuki on bail, despite court orders granting him bail.
At the resumed hearing on Tuesday, the defendants pleaded not guilty to the 32 counts read to them.
The prosecution counsel, Oluwaleke Atolagbe, then requested a trial date.
Lawyers to Dasuki and Baba-Kusa, A.A. Usman and Richard Ibiye, urged the court to allow the defendants to continue enjoying their existing bail, assuring that they had always been present for court proceedings.
The prosecution did not oppose the request but stressed the importance of the defendants’ continued presence throughout the trial.
