The Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday ordered the remand of Yakubu Adamu, the Bauchi State commissioner for finance, pending a ruling on his bail application.
Justice Emeka Nwite gave the order after Chief Gordy Uche (SAN), counsel to Adamu and Ayab Agro Products and Freight Company Ltd, moved a bail application which was opposed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) through its lawyer, Samuel Chime.
The order followed the arraignment of Adamu and Ayab Agro Products on a six-count charge bordering on alleged money laundering involving ₦4.6 billion.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the charge, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/694/2025, lists Adamu and the company as the 1st and 2nd defendants. The charge was dated and filed on December 19, 2025, by Chime of the EFCC’s Legal and Prosecution Department.
In count one, Adamu, while acting as Branch Manager of Polaris Bank Ltd, Bauchi, alongside Ishaku Aliyu, Managing Director of Makayye Investment Resources Ltd (now at large), and Muntaka Mohammed Duguri (now at large), was alleged to have conspired between June and December 2023 to commit the offence.
They were accused of facilitating the conversion, transfer, concealment and use of about ₦4.65 billion, allegedly availed by Polaris Bank under the guise of financing the supply of motorcycles to the Bauchi State Government through Emmanuel Asomugha General Enterprises.
“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,” the charge stated.
In count six, Adamu and the other defendants were accused of retaining and transferring proceeds of an unlawful act to nominees and third parties in 2023, including the transfer of ₦165.9 million to Ayab Agro Products and Freight Company Ltd. The offence is said to be contrary to Section 20(a) of the same Act.
When the case was called, the EFCC informed the court that it was ready to proceed with the arraignment. The charges were read, and the defendants pleaded not guilty to all six counts.
While the prosecution applied for a trial date, Uche informed the court that a bail application had been filed for Adamu, urging the court to grant bail on liberal terms. The EFCC opposed the application through a counter-affidavit, asking the court to refuse bail and order an accelerated hearing.
Uche also appealed for Adamu’s temporary release to the Bauchi State Attorney-General, citing the need to pay workers’ salaries, but the judge declined, noting that a ruling date would be fixed.
Justice Nwite subsequently ordered that Adamu be remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre pending the ruling on his bail application and adjourned the matter to January 2, 2026, for ruling.
The EFCC later informed the court that additional defendants had been charged in a fresh case involving Adamu, but the judge declined to take their plea, noting that the charge was not before the court. The arraignment was adjourned to Wednesday.
At the prosecution’s request, the court granted permission for Adamu to be temporarily remanded in EFCC custody pending the next arraignment to address logistical challenges. (NAN)