EFCC’s Attempt to Re-Arraign National Assembly Officials in Alleged N337 Million Fraud Case Faces Delay

EFCC’s Bid to Re-Arraign Three National Assembly Officials Over Alleged N337 Million Fraud Stalled by Preliminary Objections

The effort by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to re-arraign three officials associated with Nigeria’s National Assembly over an alleged N337 million fraud case suffered a setback on Monday after one of the defendants challenged portions of the amended charges before the court.

The case, which was scheduled to proceed before Justice Muhammed Zubairu of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court sitting in Jikwoyi, Abuja, could not move forward as planned due to legal objections raised by the defence team.

The defendants involved in the matter are Aishatu Bappa El-Nafaty, Director of Public Affairs in the Directorate of Special Duties and Parliamentary Security at the National Assembly; Mamud Alhaji Abubakar, a former Permanent Secretary in the National Assembly Service; and Igba Ityoakura Joseph, a Deputy Director of Procurement.

According to court documents, the three officials are facing an amended 23-count charge that includes allegations of conspiracy, forgery, criminal breach of trust, official corruption, and unlawful conversion of public funds belonging to the National Assembly. The total amount involved in the case is said to be N337,062,350.

Defence Challenges Amended Charges

The proceedings took a different turn when counsel representing the second defendant, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Muhammed Ndayako, presented a preliminary objection before the court.

Ndayako requested the court to strike out counts three, four, five, six, seven, and eighteen of the amended charge. According to him, the affected counts were legally defective and constituted an attempt to revive allegations that had already been dismissed by the court in an earlier ruling delivered on May 12, 2025.

The defence maintained that reintroducing those particular charges was inconsistent with the previous decision of the court and therefore should not be allowed to stand.

EFCC Responds to Objection

Responding on behalf of the prosecution, EFCC counsel Francis Usani informed the court that the anti-graft agency only received the application on Friday, June 5, 2026, shortly before the date fixed for the re-arraignment.

Usani expressed concern over the timing of the application, noting that the defence had sufficient time from the previous adjournment to file the objection earlier.

The prosecutor stated that he intended to formally respond to the application and urged the court to reject the objection. He argued that the application lacked merit and was designed to hinder the planned re-arraignment process.

He further requested that the court direct the defendants to enter their pleas on the amended charges so that the matter could proceed.

Details of the Allegations

Court filings indicate that the defendants allegedly conspired between 2017 and 2019 to commit criminal breach of trust involving public funds belonging to the National Assembly.

One of the allegations specifically concerns Aishatu Bappa El-Nafaty. Prosecutors claim that while serving as Deputy Director and Head of Training and Welfare at the National Assembly, she was entrusted with N89.87 million that had been transferred from National Assembly accounts into a personal bank account maintained with a commercial bank.

The prosecution alleges that the funds were subsequently converted for personal purposes.

In another count, El-Nafaty is accused of allegedly generating false payment receipts said to have been issued by Fazah Integrated Services Limited between 2017 and 2018. Prosecutors contend that the documents were produced with the intention of deceiving authorities and facilitating fraudulent activities.

Additional Objections Expected

During the court session, counsel representing the first defendant informed the court that his client also intended to file a separate preliminary objection challenging certain aspects of the amended charges.

Following submissions from both parties, Justice Zubairu directed that the additional application be filed within 48 hours. The court also granted the prosecution adequate time to prepare responses to all objections raised by the defence.

Court Adjourns Matter to September

After considering the submissions presented by both parties, Justice Muhammed Zubairu adjourned the matter until September 23, 2026.

The next hearing date will focus on determining the preliminary objections filed by the defence before any further steps regarding the re-arraignment of the defendants can be taken.

The outcome of those objections is expected to play a significant role in determining how the alleged N337 million fraud case proceeds in the coming months.