Court Orders Arrest Of Former Humanitarian Minister

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja on Thursday ordered the arrest of a former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, to answer charges of fraudulently diverting social security intervention funds during her tenure in office.

A statement from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said the court also ordered the arrest of the permanent secretary of her then-ministry, Bashir Nura Alkali.

According to the statement, the two of them failed to appear for arraignment on fraud charges before the court on Thursday, prompting the trial judge, Jude Onwuegbuzie, to issue a warrant for their arrest.

The statement said only their co-defendant, Sani Nafiu Mohammed, the third defendant, was present in court.

Prosecution lawyer Rotimi Jacobs, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, told the judge that while EFCC had filed the charges against the defendants since December last year, arraignment had stalled due to the unavailability of the two defendants.

He said a previous attempt at the arraignment on 15 December 2025 failed because the two defendants were absent.

He also said their lawyers, who attended the proceedings, promised to produce them, but the defendants had yet to report to the EFCC office, except the third defendant.

Mr Jacobs also noted that, although the defendants had been served with the charges, it was impossible until the court granted an order of substituted service.

The charges against Ms Umar-Farouq had not been previously reported, but she and the activities of her ministry had been in the news since her time in office over suspicious use of the social security intervention and social safety net funds entrusted to them.

Ms Umar-Farouq, who was the pioneer minister of the ministry established during former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, has been named in various fraud allegations stemming from scandals involving social security programmes.

President Bola Tinubu suspended the programmes shortly after assuming office in 2023 to investigate the allegations and find a fraud-proof way of running them.

Ms Umar-Farouq and her co-defendants face 21 charges of breach of trust, abuse of office, fraudulent award of contract and conversion of public funds involving $1.3 million and N746,574,303.

EFCC alleged that the sum of $1.3 million was excess funds paid by the Ministry under the National Social Safety Net Coordinating Office (NASSCO) for the validation of Rapid Response Register beneficiaries.

It said the money was meant to be refunded by the contractor, Social Development by Visual ICT Limited, to the ministry. But instead of refunding it, the prosecution alleged, Ms Umar-Farouq and Mr Alkali, then-permanent secretary of the ministry, converted it to their “personal benefit”.

EFCC, the prosecuting agency, alleged that the defendants committed the offences charged under section 315 of the Penal Code between 8 May 2021 and 22 September 2022, while Ms Umar Farouq was serving as the minister overseeing the ministry.

Prosecution lawyer, Mr Jacobs, walked the judge through efforts to produce the defendants for arraignment since last December, when the charges were filed.

“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.

The lawyer recalled that during investigations in 2024, the former minister wrote to the EFCC requesting a release of her passport for a medical checkup in Saudi Arabia.

“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 to date,” Mr Jacobs said.

He also informed the court that Ms Umar-Farouq’s lawyer had given him a sworn statement that morning, stating that she was sick.

Upon his review, he said the medical reports were written after the former minister was already charged with the crime.

“No medical report was issued or shown to us for the approved journey and the release of her passport”, Mr Jacobs said.

Ms Umar-Farouq’s lawyer, Audu Ibrahim, informed the court that the former minister’s absence was due to her ill health.

He urged the court to accept the sworn statement, but the court rejected it.

Thereafter, Mr Jacobs requested the arrest of Ms Umar-Faroq and Mr Alkali.

“We are praying for 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 Celeb Peter on 15 April 2026, showing that the first and second defendants were granted bail but failed to report back; that the charge had been filed and served on them; and that 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.”

But Mr Ibrahim pleaded with the court to allow him to produce Ms Farouq in six weeks.

After listening to their submissions, the judge ordered the arrest of the former minister and Mr Alkali and set 18 May for arraignment.