Court Grants Bauchi Finance Commissioner N500m Bail in Money-Laundering Case

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has granted N500 million bail to Bauchi State Commissioner for Finance, Yakubu Adamu, who is facing trial over alleged money-laundering offences, but ordered that he remain in custody until he fulfils the conditions attached to his release.

Justice Emeka Nwite, in a ruling delivered on Friday, January 2, 2026, admitted Adamu to bail in the sum of N500 million with two sureties of equal value, each able to produce proof of ownership of landed property within the Maitama, Asokoro or Gwarinpa districts of the Federal Capital Territory. 

The court also directed that both the commissioner and his sureties should deposit their international passports and recent passport photographs with the court registrar, and that Adamu must not travel abroad without explicit permission from the court.

Pending satisfaction of the bail conditions, the judge ordered that Adamu be detained at the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja, with January 20, 2026 fixed for the commencement of the full trial.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission arraigned Adamu on December 30, 2025, alongside Ayab Agro Products and Freight Company Ltd, on a six-count money-laundering charge alleging the unlawful conversion, concealment and use of funds totalling about N4.65 billion that were purportedly released under the guise of financing the supply of motorcycles to the Bauchi State Government. 

One of the counts read in part that the alleged conduct was contrary to Section 21(a) and punishable under the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, and that the motorcycles were not supplied despite the funds being disbursed.

During the hearing, defence counsel Gordy Uche, SAN, had sought bail for his client, while the EFCC’s lawyer, Samuel Chime, opposed the application and urged the court to consider an accelerated trial.

Justice Nwite, however, held that the prosecution had not shown that Adamu would abscond or interfere with witnesses, emphasising that the decision to grant bail remained within the court’s discretion because the offences alleged are bailable.

Adamu’s bail follows an earlier separate terrorism-related charge on which his detention is also being considered by the court, reflecting ongoing legal processes involving the finance commissioner on multiple matters before the judiciary.