Alleged fraud: Court orders arrest of ex-minister Sadiya Farouq

By Ikechukwu Nnochiri

A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Thursday issued a warrant for the arrest of former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq.

The court, in a ruling delivered by Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie, also ordered the arrest of a Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Bashir Nura Alkali.

The order followed the duo’s refusal to appear before the court to answer a 21-count charge preferred against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The charge borders on breach of trust, abuse of office, fraudulent award of contracts, and conversion of public funds totalling about $1,300,000 (One Million, Three Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) and N746,574,303 (Seven Hundred and Forty-Six Million, Five Hundred and Seventy-Four Thousand, Three Hundred and Three Naira).
When the case came up on Thursday, only the third defendant, Sani Nafiu Mohammed, was present in court.

Prosecution counsel, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, told the court that although the charge was filed on December 15, 2025, the first and second defendants remained evasive—a situation that made it impossible for the anti-graft agency to serve them.

Jacobs, SAN, noted that although the defendants, who were on administrative bail, could not be produced for arraignment, lawyers they had briefed to represent them had promised that they would appear for trial.

He added that only the third defendant had reported to the commission when his surety was contacted.

The EFCC’s lawyer added that the former minister had written a letter to the agency in 2024, seeking permission for a medical check-up in Saudi Arabia, which led to the release of her international passport.

“My Lord, since that passport was released to her, she has not returned it to the commission. We do not have the medical report from Saudi Arabia to date. Only this morning, my friend served me with an affidavit of facts from the learned senior counsel for the first defendant, in which the deponent claimed that the first defendant had fallen ill.

“My Lord, all the medical reports that my friend attached to the affidavit were issued after the charge had been filed. No medical report was issued or shown to us for the approved journey and passport release,” Jacobs, SAN, added.

In response, a lawyer appearing for the former minister, Mr. Abdul Ibrahim, SAN, told the court that his client’s absence was due to ill health.

He prayed the court to accept an affidavit of facts he had filed on behalf of the defendant.
Although he attempted to read the affidavit, the court rejected it.

Meanwhile, the EFCC notified the court of its decision to amend an ex parte motion it had filed on February 16, 2026, which sought to limit the application for a bench warrant to only the 1st and 2nd defendants.

It prayed the court to order their arrest and production for arraignment.

“We are praying Your Lordship to issue a warrant of arrest or bench warrant against the first and second defendants. This application is supported by an affidavit deposed to by one Caleb Peter on April 15, 2026, showing that the first and second defendants were granted bail but failed to report back, and that the charge had been filed and served on them, yet they failed to appear in court today.

“It is imperative, therefore, for this Honourable Court to permit the commission to arrest the first and second defendants so that they can be compelled to appear,” the prosecution counsel submitted.

Despite pleas by the defence lawyer, who urged the court to grant him six weeks to produce the first defendant, Justice Onwuegbuzie held that he was minded to grant the EFCC’s application.

Consequently, he ordered the arrest of the two defendants and adjourned the case until May 18 for their arraignment.

It will be recalled that Ms. Farouq was appointed the pioneer Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019, becoming the youngest minister in the cabinet.

One of the counts in the charge against her reads: “That you, Sadiya Umar Farouq, while being Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, and Bashir Nura Alkali, while being the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, between May 8, 2021, and September 22, 2022, in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, and in such capacity entrusted with certain property, to wit, an aggregate sum of $1,300,000.00 (One Million, Three Hundred Thousand Dollars), committed criminal breach of trust in respect of the said property when you fraudulently converted the said sum to your personal benefit—and which sum was meant to be refunded to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development by Visual ICT Limited, being excess funds paid by the Ministry under the National Social Safety Net Coordinating Office (NASSCO) for the validation of Rapid Response Register beneficiaries—and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 315 of the Penal Code and punishable under the same section.”

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