The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed April 13, 2026, for judgment in the alleged N868 million money laundering case against a former acting Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr. Chukwunyere Nwabuoku.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Justice James Omotosho announced the date on Monday after counsel for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ekele Iheanacho, SAN, and the defence lawyer, Norrison Quakers, SAN, adopted their final written addresses and presented arguments for and against the charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nwabuoku was arraigned on January 15, 2025, on a nine-count amended charge and granted bail of N500 million with two sureties of like amount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The case, marked FHC\/ABJ\/CR\/240\/2024, lists him as the sole defendant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The EFCC alleged that Nwabuoku, while serving as Director of Finance and Accounts at the Ministry of Defence between 2019 and 2021, conspired with several companies\u2014including Temeeo Synergy Concept Limited, Turge Global Investment Limited, Laptev Bridge Limited, and Arafura Transnational Afro Limited\u2014to convert funds believed to be proceeds of unlawful activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the anti-graft agency, the offences contravene Section 18 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended in 2012), and are punishable under Section 15(3) of the Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nwabuoku was appointed acting Accountant-General of the Federation on May 20, 2022, by former President Muhammadu Buhari, following the suspension of Ahmed Idris over an alleged N80 billion fraud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was removed from office in July 2022 and replaced by Sylva Okolieaboh amid reports of EFCC scrutiny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the trial, the prosecution called nine witnesses, including Zenith Bank official Eucharia Ezeodi and federal civil servant Felix Nweke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On November 13, 2025, Justice Omotosho dismissed a no-case submission filed by Nwabuoku, ruling that a prima facie case had been established, though this did not imply guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nwabuoku opened his defence on February 2, 2026, urging the court to discharge and acquit him, denying that he was a signatory to the companies linked to the charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier, he had explored a plea bargain in February 2025 but withdrew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The EFCC later amended the charge, leaving Nwabuoku as the sole defendant while listing Nweke among its witnesses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed April 13, 2026, for judgment in the alleged N868 million money laundering case against a former acting Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr. Chukwunyere Nwabuoku. Justice James Omotosho announced the date on Monday after counsel for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ekele Iheanacho, SAN, and the defence […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":48627,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t