The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is set to bring fresh charges against former National Security Adviser (NSA), Colonel Sambo Dasuki (retd), and former Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) General Manager, Aminu Baba-Kusa.
They will be re-arraigned alongside two companies, Acacia Holdings Limited and Reliance Referral Hospital Limited, at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) today.
This development follows the reassignment of their case by the Chief Judge of the FCT, Justice Hussein Baba-Yusuf.
Previously presiding over the matter before his promotion, Justice Baba-Yusuf transferred the case to Justice Charles Agbaza, necessitating a fresh trial.
Dasuki, who served under former President Goodluck Jonathan, was initially arraigned on December 14, 2015, alongside his co-defendants on 19 counts of money laundering and criminal breach of trust involving N13.5 billion.
The prosecution later revised the charges, removing one defendant, Shuaibu Salisu, and re-arraigning the others on May 11, 2018, on an expanded 32-count indictment.
The revised charges alleged the misappropriation of N33.2 billion allocated for arms procurement to combat Boko Haram insurgents.
Despite years of legal proceedings, the trial made little progress, with only one prosecution witness testifying before the case was indefinitely suspended.
Dasuki’s prolonged detention by the Department of State Services (DSS), despite multiple court orders granting him bail, further delayed proceedings.
The EFCC has also pursued a separate fraud case against Dasuki, involving former Minister of State for Finance Bashir Yuguda and ex-Sokoto State Governor Attahiru Bafarawa, over an alleged N19.4 billion misappropriation. That case continues under Justice Yusuf Halilu.
With today’s re-arraignment, the EFCC is expected to push for a swift trial following renewed pressure to advance the long-pending case.