EFCC Re-arraigns Bauchi Accountant-General, 1 Other Over Alleged N1.63bn Fraud

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday re-arraigned the Accountant-General of Bauchi State, Sirajo Muhammad Jaja, alongside an Bureau de Change operator, Aliyu Abubakar of Jasfad Resources Enterprises, before Justice O. A. Egwuatu of the Federal High Court in Abuja.

According to a statement posted by the anti-graft agency on its official Facebook page, the defendants were re-arraigned on an amended five-count charge bordering on the alleged conversion of public funds and money laundering amounting to N1,635,270,350.09.

The duo were initially arraigned on April 7, 2025, with Jaja listed as the first defendant and Abubakar as the second.

However, in the amended charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/101/2025, dated January 5, 2026, and filed the same day, Abubakar, trading as Jasfad Resources Enterprises, was listed as the first defendant, while Jaja became the second.

At the resumed hearing, prosecution counsel, Barr. Abba Muhammed, SAN, informed the court of a second amended charge and requested that the defendants take their plea. Both defendants pleaded not guilty.

One of the charges alleges that the defendants, alongside others now at large, between October 29 and December 31, 2024, converted over N1.29 billion belonging to the Bauchi State Government by transferring funds from the state’s sub-treasury account with United Bank for Africa (UBA) into the account of Jasfad Resources Enterprises.

Count two of the charge reads, “That you Aliyu Abubakar (trading under the name and style of “Jasfad Resources Enterprises” a purported Bureau de Change operator), Sirajo Muhammad Jaja (Accountant General of Bauchi State), Abubakar Muhammad Hafiz (at large), between 29 October, 2024 and 31st December, 2024 within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did commit an offence to wit: money laundering by converting the sum of One Billion, Two Hundred and Ninety Million, One hundred and Fifty four thousand, Three hundred and Thirty seven Naira, Two kobo (N1, 290,154,337.2) of public funds, belonging to Bauchi State Government which you transferred from the Bauchi State Sub-Treasury Account, domiciled in United Bank for Africa with account number 1018819396 into the bank account of Jasfad Resources Enterprise domiciled in United Bank for Africa with account number 1023444660 and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(2)(b) and punishable under Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering(Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.”

Another count claims that between January 3 and March 14, 2025, the defendants allegedly converted an additional N426.1 million of public funds through similar transactions. The offences are said to contravene provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

“That you Aliyu Abubakar (trading under the name and style of of “Jasfad Resources Enterprises” a purported Bureau de Change operator), Sirajo Muhammad Jaja (Accountant General of Bauchi State), Abubakar Muhammad Hafiz (at large), Ari Manga (at large), and Muhammad Aminu Bose (at large), between 3rd January, 2025 and 14th March 2025, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did commit an offence to wit: money laundering by converting the sum of Four hundred and twenty-six million, One hundred and sixteen Thousand, Thirteen Naira, Seven kobo (N426, 116,013.7) of the public funds, belonging to Bauchi State Government which you transferred from the Bauchi state Sub-Treasury Account, domiciled in the United Bank for Africa with account number 1018819396 into bank account of Jasfad Enterprise, domiciled in United Bank for Africa with account number 1023444660 and thereby, committed an offence contrary to Section 18(2)(b) and punishable under Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.”

Following their plea, defence counsel Gordy Uche, SAN, and Chris Uche, SAN, representing the first and second defendants respectively, urged the court to allow their clients to continue on the bail earlier granted.

The prosecution did not oppose the application, and the court upheld the existing bail conditions.

Counsel to the first defendant also filed a motion challenging the competence of the charges, seeking to strike out counts two to five on grounds of alleged duplication and the risk of double jeopardy. The second defendant’s counsel supported the application, while the prosecution opposed it.

Justice Egwuatu, however, reserved ruling on the application until the conclusion of the trial, citing Section 395 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015.

The prosecution subsequently called its first witness, Abimbola Williams, a compliance officer with UBA with two decades of banking experience.

She testified that the bank received a request from the EFCC in February 2025 for account statements and related documents concerning Jasfad Resources Enterprises and the Bauchi State sub-treasury account.

Williams confirmed that the requested documents were printed, certified, and handed over to the EFCC. The court admitted the documents in evidence despite objections from the defence, who indicated they would address the issue in their final written submissions.

In her testimony, the witness detailed multiple transactions allegedly involving the transfer of funds from the Bauchi State sub-treasury account (No. 1018819396) to Jasfad Resources Enterprises’ account (No. 1023444660), both domiciled in UBA.

She cited several transactions, including transfers of N13.14 million and N7.19 million on October 29, 2024, as well as N50 million and N7.32 million on October 30, 2024. She added that at least 18 additional transfers were made on different dates within the period under review.

Following the conclusion of the witness’s examination-in-chief, Justice Egwuatu adjourned the case to May 12, 2026, for continuation of trial.