The Federal High Court has ordered the remand of Bauchi State Commissioner for Finance, Yakubu Adamu, after his arraignment over alleged money laundering involving billions of naira tied to a bank facility and a state government transaction.
The court action followed the arraignment of Adamu alongside Ayab Agro Products and Freight Company Ltd on multiple counts bordering on alleged money laundering, with both defendants pleading not guilty to all charges filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The EFCC alleged that the defendants were involved in transactions totalling about N4.65 billion, said to have been accessed through a Polaris Bank facility purportedly meant to finance the supply of motorcycles to the Bauchi State Government, an arrangement prosecutors said was never executed.
“The motorcycles were not supplied, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 21(a) and punishable under Section 21 of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022,” one of the counts read.
The charge, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/694/2025 and dated December 19, also named Ishaku Aliyu and Muntaka Mohammed Duguri as co-conspirators described as being at large, alleging that parts of the funds were converted, concealed, and transferred through third-party accounts in 2023.
Justice Emeka Nwite, on Tuesday, ordered that Adamu be remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre after hearing submissions from his counsel, Gordy Uche, SAN, and EFCC lawyer, Samuel Chime, following the reading of a six-count charge before the Abuja court.
Chime opposed the bail application, telling the court that the EFCC filed a 15-paragraph counter affidavit on December 22 and urging Justice Nwite to refuse bail and order an accelerated hearing of the matter.
Uche, however, urged the court to grant bail on liberal terms, arguing that Adamu’s continued detention could disrupt administrative responsibilities, including the payment of salaries to Bauchi State workers. “We urge the court to admit the first defendant to bail pending trial,” he said.
Justice Nwite adjourned the matter until January 2, 2026, for a ruling on the bail application, later granting the prosecution’s request that Adamu be remanded in EFCC custody pending further arraignment on an additional charge.
