Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Maitama, Abuja, has ordered the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and the Department of State Services (DSS) to investigate alleged exhibit tampering in an ongoing N10bn fraud trial.
The directive followed revelations that a court registrar, Nasiru Zubairu, allegedly colluded with the second defendant, Daudu Sulaiman, to delete WhatsApp messages from a mobile phone admitted as evidence in the high-profile fraud case.
According to a statement by the spokesman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Dele Oyewale, the trial judge disclosed in open court that the registrar privately confessed to being approached with an inducement to interfere with the exhibits.
Justice Omotosho said the disclosure aligned with the Federal High Court’s policy on discovery and disclosure, stressing that the judiciary has zero tolerance for any action capable of undermining the integrity of judicial proceedings.
“I have to disclose it because that is what the Chief Judge directed—that such matters must be disclosed early. We have a policy of discovery and disclosure at the Federal High Court, and we have zero tolerance for this kind of conduct,” the judge stated.
In open court, Justice Omotosho played an audio recording of the registrar’s confession and invited Zubairu to explain the circumstances surrounding the alleged tampering of court exhibits.
Addressing the court, Zubairu admitted that Daudu Sulaiman allegedly offered to assist him with accommodation in exchange for deleting specific WhatsApp messages from the mobile phone tendered as exhibits N and O.
“I was asked to delete some WhatsApp messages in the exhibits, with the promise that I would be given a house,” the registrar told the court.
Following the revelation, the court granted the Director of Public Prosecutions, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), permission to call the EFCC’s investigating officer, Muhammed Abubakar, to establish whether the alleged deletions had occurred.
While testifying, Abubakar confirmed that several WhatsApp conversations spanning 2020 to 2022 had been deleted from the phone admitted as evidence. He identified noticeable gaps in the chat history, including missing conversations dated December 23, 2020; January 22, 26 and 30, 2021; August 30, 2021; and February 28, 2022.
The EFCC operative further told the court that messages such as “Hudu will bring it now” dated January 22, 2021, and “Hudu is bringing N100m” dated January 26, 2021—previously encountered during investigations—were no longer present on the device.
“I came across these chats during the investigation, but they are no longer on the phone tendered before the court,” Abubakar testified.
Reacting to the testimony, Oyedepo urged the court to order a comprehensive investigation, citing what he described as an “urgent and irresistible suspicion” that critical evidence in the N10bn fraud trial had been tampered with.
He also applied for the revocation of the second defendant’s bail and requested a forensic examination of exhibit N to determine when and how the deletions were made.
Counsel to the defence expressed surprise at the development but urged the court to await the outcome of the forensic investigation before taking further action.
In his ruling, Justice Omotosho ordered the Nigeria Police Force and the DSS to investigate the alleged exhibit tampering and report their findings to the court.
The matter was adjourned to February 9, 2026, for continuation of the trial.
