EFCC: Court Issues Arrest Warrant for Sadiya Umar Farouq, Bashir Alkali Over $1.3m Fraud Charges
Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT High Court, Abuja, on Thursday, April 16, 2026, issued a bench warrant for the arrest of a former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, alongside a Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Bashir Nura Alkali, PulseNets reported.
The defendants were scheduled for arraignment before the court on Thursday but failed to appear. PulseNets learnt that only the third defendant, Sani Nafiu Mohammed, was present during proceedings.
The three defendants are to be arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on a 21-count charge bordering on criminal breach of trust, abuse of office, fraudulent contract awards, and alleged diversion of public funds totaling about $1,300,000 and N746,574,303.
Count one of the charge 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 8 May 2021 and 22 September 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 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.”
Prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, told the court that the charge had been filed since December 15, 2025, but the first and second defendants could not be produced for arraignment.
“We could not arraign them on 15 December, because we could not produce them but their lawyers in court promised that they would produce the defendants but we didn’t see them until your lordship made an order for the state service. The defendants have now been served, my lord, only the third defendant has reported to the Commission when his surety was contacted. The third defendant’s surety is also in court”, he said.
Jacobs further disclosed that the first defendant had earlier written to the Commission, stating she was travelling to Saudi Arabia in 2024 for medical treatment, leading to the release of her passport.
“My lord, since that passport was released to her, she has not returned the passport to the Commission . We do not have the medical report in Saudi Arabia till date. Only this morning, my friend served me with an affidavit of fact, the learned senior counsel for the first defendant, wherein the deponent claimed that the first defendant took ill, my lord, all the medical reports which my friend attached to the affidavit of facts were issued after the charge had been filed. No medical report was issued or shown to us for the approved journey and the release of her passport”, he said.
Counsel to the first defendant, Abdul Ibrahim, SAN, informed the court that her absence was due to ill health. He also urged the court to admit an affidavit of fact, but the application was rejected, PulseNets learnt.
Jacobs also notified the court of the Commission’s intention to amend an ex-parte motion filed on February 16, 2026, to restrict its scope to the first and second defendants. He subsequently urged the court to issue a warrant of arrest against them.
“We are praying your lordship to order or issue a warrant of arrest or bench warrant against the first and second defendants. It is also supported by an affidavit by one Celeb 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 but they have failed to appear before the 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 before the court”, he said.
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The defence, however, appealed to the court to allow a six-week window to produce the first defendant for trial.
In his ruling, Justice Onwuegbuzie granted the prosecution’s request, issuing a warrant of arrest against the first and second defendants. The matter was subsequently adjourned to May 18, 2026, for arraignment and trial, PulseNets reported.
