The trial of former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd), continued on Tuesday, January 13, at the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama, Abuja, with fresh testimony from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission linking funds from the Office of the National Security Adviser to private companies, property acquisitions and overseas transfers.
Testifying before Justice C.O. Agbaza, an EFCC investigator, Dr Michael Adariku, told the court that a total of ₦600 million was transferred on 17 April 2015 from an ONSA account domiciled with Zenith Bank to Acacia Holdings Limited. He said the recipient account had a balance of just over ₦27,000 before the inflow.
Dr Adariku appeared as the first prosecution witness and explained that the money was subsequently broken into several payments allegedly connected to the second defendant, Aminu Baba Kusa, a former general manager of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
According to the witness, one of the first transactions occurred on 23 April 2015, when ₦60 million was paid from the Acacia Holdings account to Hidayatul Atfaaf Islamic Academy. He said the payment was part settlement for the purchase of 3.62 hectares of land in Kyami District, Abuja, acquired for Kusa at a total cost of ₦120 million.
He further told the court that on the same day, ₦25 million was transferred to Zavati BDC Ltd as part payment for a hospitality property valued at ₦40 million. The balance of the payment, he said, was made through Kusa’s agent, Ibrahim Saleh Uba.
Dr Adariku also disclosed that on 24 April 2015, ₦124 million was transferred out of the Acacia account without any clear narration or explanation for the transaction. He said the lack of documentation made it difficult to determine the purpose of the payment.
Additional transactions followed on 27 April 2015, according to the witness. He said ₦8.1 million was transferred to Uba for survey and documentation related to several plots of land in Abuja.
On the same date, he added, ₦50 million was paid to Squad Developers Nigeria Ltd as part payment for more than 118 hectares of land in Kwali, within the FCT. The land, he told the court, was also acquired for Kusa.
The EFCC investigator testified that further payments were made on 28 April 2015, including ₦55.9 million transferred to Fastman Investment Ltd. He said the payment was made on the instruction of Kusa.
Dr Adariku told the court that during investigations, the chief executive officer of Fastman Investment Ltd, Farouk Suleiman, informed EFCC operatives that the funds were used to facilitate the transfer of $630,000 to a client in Saudi Arabia for medical services.
The witness also revealed that substantial sums were paid to Medical Practice Ltd, a company owned by Kusa’s wife, Hauwa. He said ₦70 million was initially transferred to the firm, followed by another ₦80 million, bringing the total amount paid between April and early May 2015 to ₦150 million.
He further testified that other funds were transferred to Namuduka Ventures Ltd, after which the money was converted into foreign currencies and sent to bank accounts in the United Kingdom linked to Kusa.
According to Dr Adariku, these foreign transactions included funds converted to $200,000 and €233,944, which were subsequently paid into accounts operated by companies associated with Kusa in the UK.
At the end of the proceedings, Justice Agbaza adjourned the case until 14 January 2026 for the continuation of trial.
Dasuki, Kusa, Acacia Holdings Limited and Reliance Referral Hospital Limited are standing trial on a 32-count charge filed by the EFCC. The charges relate to the alleged diversion of ₦33.2 billion said to have been earmarked for arms procurement during Dasuki’s tenure as National Security Adviser.
