The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has re-arraigned Bauchi State Accountant General, Sirajo Muhammad Jaja, and an unlicensed Bureau de Change operator, Aliyu Abubakar of Jasfad Resources Enterprises, before Justice O. A. Egwuatu of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The duo were re-arraigned on Tuesday, April 28, 2026, on an amended five-count charge of converting public funds belonging to the Bauchi State Government and money laundering totalling N1,635,270,350.9k.
adds that they were previously arraigned on April 7, 2025, with Jaja as the first defendant and Abubakar as the second.
However, in the modified accusation, designated FHC/ABJCR/101/2025, dated January 5, 2026, and filed on the same date, Abubakar, trading as Jasfad Resources Enterprises, was named the first defendant and Jaja the second.
Early in the proceedings, prosecuting lawyer Abba Muhammed, SAN, informed the court that the prosecution had submitted a second amended charge and urged the defendants to enter a plea.
Count two of the charge reads, “That you Aliyu Abubakar (trading under the name and style of “Jasfad Resources Enterprises,” a purported Bureau de Change operator), Sirajo Muhammad Jaja (Accountant General of Bauchi State), Abubakar Muhammad Hafiz (at large), between 29 October, 2024 and 31st December, 2024 within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did commit an offence to wit: money laundering by converting the sum of One Billion, Two Hundred and Ninety Million, One hundred and Fifty four thousand, Three hundred and Thirty seven Naira, Two kobo (N1, 290,154,337.2) of public funds, belonging to Bauchi State Government which you transferred from the Bauchi State Sub-Treasury Account, domiciled in United Bank for Africa with account number 1018819396 into the bank account of Jasfad Resources Enterprise domiciled in United Bank for Africa with account number 1023444660 and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(2)(b) and punishable under Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.”
Count three reads; “That you Aliyu Abubakar (trading under the name and style of “Jasfad Resources Enterprises,” a purported Bureau de Change operator), Sirajo Muhammad Jaja (Accountant General of Bauchi State), Abubakar Muhammad Hafiz (at large), Ari Manga (at large), and Muhammad Aminu Bose (at large), between 3rd January, 2025 and 14th March 2025, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did commit an offence to wit: money laundering by converting the sum of Four hundred and twenty-six million, One hundred and sixteen Thousand, Thirteen Naira, Seven kobo (N426, 116,013.7) of the public funds, belonging to Bauchi State Government which you transferred from the Bauchi State Sub-Treasury Account, domiciled in the United Bank for Africa with account number 1018819396 into bank account of Jasfad Enterprise, domiciled in United Bank for Africa with account number 1023444660 and thereby, committed an offence contrary to Section 18(2)(b) and punishable under Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.”
They pleaded “not guilty” to the allegations, and counsel for the first and second defendants, Gordy Uche, SAN, and Chris Uche, SAN, respectively, sought for the defendants to continue to benefit from the bail previously granted by the court, which was not challenged by the prosecution counsel.
The first defendant’s attorney also filed a motion contesting the charge’s competency, requesting that the judge strike down counts two, three, four, and five for alleged duplication of action and to protect the defendants from double jeopardy.
The second defendant’s counsel, Chris Uche, SAN, supported this, while the prosecution counsel opposed it.
The court, however, withheld a decision on the contention until the conclusion of the trial, citing Section 395 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015.
In the continuation of the trial, the prosecution called its first witness, Abimbola Williams, a compliance officer with the United Bank for Africa (UBA) with 20 years of experience.
She informed the court that in February 2025, the EFCC requested information on some of the bank’s clients.
“The request asked for the bank statements of Jaspa Resources account, Bauchi State Sub-treasury account and the documents were printed and copies given to EFCC,” she said.
The banker, who claimed that the documents were certified by her, presented them to the prosecution, and the court admitted them as evidence and marked them as exhibits.
Although the defence lawyers objected, they stated that their concerns would be addressed in their written statements.
In her testimony, PW1 also told the court how money worth millions of naira was reportedly transferred from the Bauchi State Sub-Treasury Account number: 1018819396 to Jasfad Resources Enterprises account number: 1023444660, which is domiciled in UBA.
She told the court that a debit transfer of N13,144,500 was made from the Bauchi State Sub-Treasury Account to Jasfad Resources on October 29, 2024. Also, on October 29, 2024, we have a debit transfer of 1N7,196,300. On October 30, 2024, there were two debit transfers from the Bauchi Sub-treasury account to Jasfad Resources Enterprise, the first for N50 million and the second for N7,321,000,” he stated.
The witness further stated that there were 18 other instances throughout the time in which transactions were made from the Bauchi State Sub-Treasury Account to Jasfad Resources.
Following the completion of PW1’s evidence-in-chief, Justice Egwuatu adjourned the case till May 12 for continuation of trial.