An FCT High Court in Apo has dealt a major legal blow to former minister Sadiya Umar Farouq after Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie dismissed her counsel’s bid to set aside her bench warrant and arrest warrant, pushing her long-awaited criminal trial closer to commencement.
The ruling, delivered in what is shaping up to be one of the more closely watched corruption prosecutions of the current administration’s anti-graft campaign, effectively cleared the way for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to continue pressing for the former minister’s physical appearance before the court.
Farouq, who served as minister under former President Muhammadu Buhari, is facing prosecution alongside two co-defendants, Bashir Nura Alkali and Sani Nafiu Mohammed, on a raft of serious charges, including criminal conspiracy, abuse of office, and the alleged diversion of public funds amounting to a staggering $1.3 million and ₦746.7 million.
The funds in question were reportedly under the purview of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, a sensitive portfolio responsible for the administration of social intervention programs targeted at Nigeria’s most vulnerable citizens.
The ministry, at its peak, managed billions of naira in social welfare disbursements, including conditional cash transfer schemes and COVID-19 palliative distribution programs that attracted intense public scrutiny and allegations of mismanagement even before the EFCC moved in.
In dismissing the application filed by Farouq’s legal team, Justice Onwuegbuzie was unequivocal. The court held that the former minister had willfully failed to appear before the court without any valid or legally acceptable justification, a finding that carries considerable legal weight and public significance.
“The law empowers this court to issue a bench warrant of arrest where it is established that a defendant is absent without justification,” the judge stated, leaving no ambiguity about the legal basis for his decision.
The ruling signals that the court is unwilling to countenance what it views as deliberate evasion, regardless of the defendant’s former status or the caliber of legal representation engaged on her behalf.
Following the dismissal, the proceedings took a further dramatic turn. EFCC counsel Rotimi Jacobs, a seasoned senior advocate with considerable trial experience in high-profile financial crimes matters, moved swiftly, urging the court to enforce an undertaking allegedly given by Farouq’s lead counsel, A.A. Ibrahim (SAN), to personally produce his client before the court.
The request thrust Ibrahim himself into the spotlight, raising the rare and uncomfortable prospect of a senior advocate being held accountable for representations made to the court on behalf of a client. It is a development that underscores the seriousness with which the EFCC is pursuing physical compliance in this case.
Speaking through his representative, A.M. Lawal, Ibrahim requested the opportunity to appear personally before the court to address the undertaking issue himself. A request Justice Onwuegbuzie granted, noting that fairness demanded the senior advocate be heard directly before any consequential findings were made against him.
With the bench warrant firmly in place and the undertaking question unresolved, Justice Onwuegbuzie adjourned the case to July 2, 2026, for arraignment, the formal process during which defendants are required to appear in the dock and enter pleas to the charges filed against them.
Whether Farouq will present herself voluntarily before that date or whether security agencies will be called upon to execute the outstanding arrest warrant remains to be seen. What is clear, however, is that the court’s patience is wearing thin, and the machinery of justice, however slowly it may grind, is turning.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
An FCT High Court has refused to lift the bench warrant against former humanitarian affairs minister Sadiya Umar Farouq, ruling that her repeated absence from court was willful and unjustifiable.
With her trial for the alleged diversion of $1.3 million and ₦746.7 million in public funds now adjourned to July 2, 2026, for arraignment, the court’s message is clear: no one, regardless of their former position or legal firepower, is above the obligation to answer to justice.
