A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has returned the high-profile 9.7 million dollar terrorism financing case involving the Bauchi State Commissioner for Finance, Yakubu Adamu, to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for reassignment.
The order was issued on Tuesday by Justice Emeka Nwite, nearly two weeks after Adamu was remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre following his arraignment on multiple charges linked to alleged terrorism financing and money laundering.
Adamu, a former branch manager of Polaris Bank in Bauchi, was first charged on December 31, 2025. He is facing ten counts alongside three other defendants identified as civil servants. They are Balarabe Abdullahi Ilelah, Aminu Mohammed Bose and Kabiru Yahaya Mohammed.
The charges were brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, which accused the defendants of conspiracy, misappropriation of public funds and terrorism financing, offences said to contravene provisions of the Money Laundering Prevention and Prohibition Act of 2022.
According to the EFCC, the accused persons allegedly carried out cash transactions amounting to about 9.7 million dollars outside the formal banking system. The commission told the court that the transactions were deliberately structured to avoid the use of financial institutions.
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Prosecutors alleged that between January and May 2024, Adamu worked with other officials to deliver 2.3 million dollars in cash to Bello Bodejo and his associates. Bodejo, the President of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, was previously arrested and charged by the Federal Government over alleged terrorism related activities after forming a vigilante group.
The EFCC claimed that the cash disbursements were made with approvals from the Bauchi State Government and that the defendants had reasonable grounds to believe the funds would be used to support terrorist activities.
The commission further disclosed that other individuals linked to the case, including the Bauchi State Accountant General, Sirajo Jaja, are currently at large and evading arrest.
All four defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges and applied for bail. However, the court denied their bail application on January 5, ordering that they remain in custody pending further proceedings.
At the resumed hearing, defence counsel, Goddy Uche SAN, filed a motion requesting that the case be reassigned, arguing that it was initially taken during the court’s vacation period. Justice Nwite upheld the application and directed that the case file be forwarded to the Chief Judge for reassignment to another judge.
The development has drawn renewed attention to the case, which continues to generate national interest due to the scale of the alleged funds involved and the sensitive nature of the terrorism financing allegations.
