Court Orders Police, DSS to Probe Alleged Evidence Tampering in Ali Bello N10bn Fraud Trial

Justice J.K. Omotosho of the Federal High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja, on Thursday, February 5, 2026, directed the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and the Department of State Services (DSS) to investigate allegations of evidence tampering involving his court registrar, Nasiru Onimisi Zubairu, and the second defendant in an alleged N10 billion fraud case, Daudu Sulaiman.

The judge’s order followed a disclosure that Zubairu reportedly admitted that Sulaiman approached him with a request to erase important WhatsApp messages contained in Exhibits N and O — a mobile phone already submitted to the court as evidence.

Justice Omotosho played the registrar’s recorded confession openly in court and instructed him to explain what transpired between him and the defendant.

“I have to disclose this early, as instructed by the Chief Judge,” the court stated. “The Federal High Court has a strict policy of discovery and disclosure, and we have zero tolerance for this kind of conduct.”

Zubairu then told the court that Sulaiman allegedly offered him assistance with accommodation in exchange for deleting specific WhatsApp chats stored on the phone.

“He asked what I wanted, and I told him I had accommodation challenges,” Zubairu said. “I was asked to delete certain WhatsApp messages, and I was promised a house.”

Following this revelation, the prosecution counsel and Director of Public Prosecution, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, requested that the EFCC’s investigation officer, Muhammed Audu Abubakar, verify whether the chats had indeed been removed from the device.

Abubakar confirmed to the court that several WhatsApp conversations dated between 2020 and 2022 had been deleted from Exhibits N and O.

Earlier, the judge asked the registrar to specify which chats he erased, but Zubairu claimed he could not recall the exact details, saying he only opened two chats.

To further confirm the extent of deletion, Oyedepo directed the witness to review specific parts of Exhibit N, including chats involving the Director General of Government House.

Abubakar informed the court that messages between December 3 and December 28, 2020, were missing, with conversations jumping from December 22 directly to December 29.

He also pointed out multiple missing messages referencing large cash movements, including entries such as: “Hudu will bring it now”, “ Hudu is bringing N100m”, “ N60m is on transit”, “Mr Ododo has collected N50m”, “Hudu is on his way with N93m.

Other key chats, including one referencing Rabiu dated February 28, 2022, were also reportedly erased.

The EFCC officer confirmed that these messages were present during the initial investigation but were no longer available on the phone.

Reacting strongly, Oyedepo urged the court to order an urgent forensic examination of the exhibit, arguing that critical evidence had been compromised. He also requested that the defendant’s bail be revoked.

The defence counsel expressed surprise at the allegations but asked the court to wait for the outcome of the forensic investigation before taking further action.

In his ruling, Justice Omotosho ordered both the Police and DSS to conduct a full investigation into the incident and submit a report to the court.

The matter was adjourned to February 9, 2026, for continuation of trial proceedings.