A Federal High Court in Abuja has declared a serving member of the Plateau State House of Assembly, Hon. Adamu Aliyu, wanted over his alleged involvement in a fraudulent N73.6 million contract linked to the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).
Hon. Aliyu, who represents Jos North State Constituency, was declared wanted by Justice Emeka Nwite on Wednesday, following an application by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
The decision came after the lawmaker allegedly failed to respond to multiple invitations by the anti-corruption agency, despite acknowledging receipt of the summons.
According to court documents obtained by DAILY POST, the case began with a petition filed by a businessman, Mohammed Jidda, who accused Aliyu of fraudulently obtaining N73.6 million from him under the pretext of helping him secure an N850 million TETFund contract at the University of Jos.
Jidda claimed that he and the lawmaker signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the project, after which he paid Aliyu several instalments totalling N73.6 million. These funds were allegedly meant to facilitate the award of the contract, including a portion — N52 million — reportedly earmarked for a third party, Imanal Concept Ltd, owned by one Saad Abubakar.
Further investigations by the ICPC revealed that Aliyu issued Jidda a fake contract award letter for a N500 million indoor sports hall at the University of Jos. The businessman was then directed to deposit the funds into Aliyu’s personal Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) account and into Imanal Concept’s Zenith Bank account.
Breakdown of the payments showed that N47.8 million went into Aliyu’s personal account, N22.4 million was paid into Imanal Concept Ltd’s account, and an additional N3.2 million went directly to Aliyu — totalling the N73.6 million under scrutiny.
In its report to the court, the ICPC stated that the University of Jos denied issuing any such contract. The institution later confirmed in writing that the contract letter presented to Jidda was forged and did not originate from them.
Despite this, the ICPC said Hon. Aliyu refused to cooperate with the investigation. The Commission told the court that several letters were sent to him through the Clerk of the Plateau State House of Assembly, as well as WhatsApp messages, but he failed to appear or respond. The ICPC also said it received intelligence that Aliyu was planning to flee the country.
The anti-graft agency then filed an application asking the court to declare him wanted in order to bring him to face a 32-count criminal charge including fraud, forgery, and criminal diversion of funds.
Granting the request, Justice Emeka Nwite ordered that Aliyu be declared wanted and that his name and details be published in national newspapers and on social media. The judge also authorised all security agencies and any private citizen to arrest the lawmaker and hand him over to the ICPC.
This court ruling marks a major escalation in the case, which has now moved from investigation to active manhunt.
However, when contacted, Hon. Aliyu denied any wrongdoing. He insisted that the matter was not criminal but a civil dispute over consultancy services.
“I did not defraud Jidda,” he said. “This is a business misunderstanding. I have already refunded N45 million from my account to his company, Mohiba Investment Ltd.”
Aliyu also denied forging the contract award letter, claiming that his role was limited to delivering the document. He added that his lawyers had written to the ICPC to explain that the issue was already being handled by a civil court and that the Commission was aware of this.
TETFund is a federal government agency responsible for funding tertiary institutions in Nigeria through interventions such as infrastructure projects and academic staff training. The agency has in recent years been plagued with reports of inflated contracts and political interference.
The ICPC, on the other hand, is a key anti-corruption agency in Nigeria with powers to investigate and prosecute corruption-related offences, including fraud, bribery, and abuse of public office.
