A federal high court in Abuja has directed the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services (DSS) to investigate alleged tampering with key evidence in the ₦10 billion fraud trial involving Ali Bello, chief of staff to Usman Ododo.
The order was made on Thursday by James Omotosho, after the court registrar, Nasiru Onimisi Zubairu, admitted to deleting WhatsApp messages from a mobile phone that had been tendered as evidence.
Justice Omotosho disclosed that the registrar told the court he was approached by Daudu Sulaiman, the second defendant, to erase messages contained in exhibits N and O using a code. The judge played the registrar’s recorded admission in open court and directed him to explain the circumstances.
“We have a policy of discovery and disclosure at the federal high court. We have zero tolerance for this kind of conduct,” the judge said, adding that the court was duty-bound to disclose such developments promptly.
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Testifying before the court, Zubairu said Sulaiman asked him what he wanted and later requested the deletion of specific WhatsApp chats, promising to help him secure accommodation. “I was asked to delete some WhatsApp messages in the exhibits on the promise that I would be given a house,” he said.
Following the disclosure, the court permitted Rotimi Oyedepo, director of public prosecutions, to lead Muhammed Audu Abubakar, an operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to verify whether deletions had occurred. Abubakar told the court that several messages spanning 2020 to 2022 were missing from the device.
Pressed to identify what he deleted, the registrar said he could not recall the exact chats, adding that he opened only two conversations. However, on examining exhibit N, the EFCC witness said messages between December 3 and December 28, 2020, including entries dated December 23, were missing.
Abubakar further identified multiple deleted messages referencing cash movements on dates in January 2021, August 2021, and January–February 2022, including entries that mentioned sums such as ₦100 million, ₦60 million, ₦50 million, and ₦93 million. He said additional references, including one dated February 28, 2022, were also no longer available.
After reviewing the record, Abubakar confirmed that crucial information had been erased. Oyedepo urged the court to order an investigation, citing “an urgent and irresistible suspicion” that exhibit N had been tampered with. He also asked for the revocation of the defendants’ bail and a forensic examination of the device.
Defence counsel said he was shocked by the revelations but urged the court to await the outcome of a forensic probe.
In his ruling, Justice Omotosho ordered the police and DSS to investigate the alleged tampering and adjourned the case to February 9 for continuation of trial.
Ali Bello, a nephew of Yahaya Bello, was arraigned alongside Sulaiman in 2022 on a 10-count charge bordering on misappropriation and money laundering. The EFCC alleges that the defendants, with a cashier at the Kogi Government House, Abdulsalami Hudu, withdrew about ₦10.2 billion from the state treasury for personal use.
