An Abuja High Court has adjourned the long-running trial of former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), to October 31, 2025, following a request by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to update its list of witnesses.
Dasuki, along with a former General Manager of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Aminu Baba-Kusa, and two companies — Acacia Holdings Limited and Reliance Referral Hospital Limited — is standing trial on an amended 32-count charge bordering on criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving N33.2 billion.
The EFCC alleges that the funds were illegally disbursed from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), including N10 billion in foreign currencies allegedly used to finance the 2014 presidential primaries of the then-ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
All the defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges filed under case number FCT/HC/CR/43/2015.
At the resumed hearing on Tuesday, the EFCC presented one of its operatives, Adariku Michael, as a prosecution witness. He told the court that the agency had launched an investigation in September 2015 after receiving intelligence on suspicious financial movements from the NSA’s office.
According to Michael, the case was handed over to a special EFCC task force headed by ACE 1 Halimah Kazeem, and the first step involved requesting documents from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The EFCC believes these transactions took place between October 2014 and April 2015.
However, the witness’s appearance was challenged by Solomon Umoh (SAN), counsel to Baba-Kusa, who argued that Michael’s name was not included in the original list of witnesses — a violation of Section 379 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), which outlines procedures for notifying the defence about witnesses in criminal trials.
EFCC counsel, Oluwaleke Atolagbe, defended the inclusion of the witness, explaining that Michael had previously testified before the Chief Judge in earlier proceedings and that documents had already been admitted through him. He then requested an adjournment to update the list of witnesses to avoid future legal challenges.
“This case has lasted almost 10 years,” Atolagbe told the court, adding that the EFCC was working to conclude the matter as soon as possible.
Justice Charles Agbaza granted the adjournment request, which was not opposed by the defence, and fixed October 31, 2025, for continuation of hearing.
The Dasuki case has remained one of Nigeria’s most high-profile corruption trials since his arrest in 2015. He was accused of overseeing the disbursement of billions of naira from ONSA under former President Goodluck Jonathan, much of which the EFCC claims was used for political purposes rather than national security.
The former NSA spent over four years in custody both in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) and in prison before being granted bail in December 2019.
