Court orders investigation of Registrar, defendant over tampering with N10bn fraud evidence

By Olakunle Oke

Justice J. K. Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Maitama, Abuja, has directed the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services (DSS) to launch an immediate investigation into a court registrar and a defendant following allegations of evidence tampering in a N10 billion fraud trial.

The order was issued on Thursday, February 5, 2026, after it was revealed that the court registrar, Nasiru Onimisi Zubairu, allegedly colluded with the second defendant, Daudu Sulaiman, to delete critical WhatsApp messages from mobile devices admitted as Exhibits N and O.

The judge took the extraordinary step of playing a recorded confession from Zubairu in open court, where the registrar admitted to being approached by Sulaiman to erase sensitive communications.

Justice Omotosho emphasized that the court maintains a zero-tolerance policy regarding such misconduct, citing a directive from the Chief Judge to prioritize transparency and early disclosure in matters of judicial integrity.

During his testimony, Zubairu claimed that Sulaiman promised to provide him with a house in exchange for deleting the messages after the registrar had complained about his personal accommodation challenges.

Following this revelation, the court granted the Director of Public Prosecution, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, permission for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to inspect the devices.

Investigating officer Muhammed Audu Abubakar confirmed to the court that several key conversations from 2020 to 2022 had indeed been erased.

These missing chats reportedly contained references to the movement of large sums of money, ranging from N30 million to N100 million, involving individuals identified as Hudu and Mr. Ododo.

Abubakar’s forensic review identified specific gaps in the logs, including deleted entries from late 2020 and various dates throughout 2021 and early 2022.

Justice Omotosho has assured the public that the investigation will be thorough and that anyone found culpable in the attempt to subvert the course of justice will face the full weight of the law.

This development arises within the ongoing prosecution of Ali Bello and others in connection with the multi-billion naira fraud case.