The trial of Abubakar Sambo, the Director of Finance and Account of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), could not proceed at the Federal High Court in Abuja due to his reported hearing loss. Ishaka Dikko, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) representing Mr. Sambo, informed the trial judge, Musa Liman, about his client’s severe ill-health. When the matter was called for the commencement of trial and the defendant entered the dock, Mr. Dikko stated that they were unprepared to proceed. He explained that Mr. Sambo had been struggling with and managing a hearing impairment for some time, and his current state of health made it difficult for him to hear spoken words unless they were written down.

Justice Liman inquired if there was a medical report to substantiate Mr. Sambo's health condition, to which his lawyer apologized, stating he had only become aware of this recent development approximately three days prior. When the judge sought the view of Osuobeni Akponimisingha, the lawyer for the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the prosecuting counsel confirmed he had a witness present and was ready for the trial. However, he did not oppose Mr. Dikko's request for an adjournment. Consequently, Justice Liman rescheduled the trial for November 6.

Mr. Sambo, who was re-arraigned before Justice Liman on January 28, faces prosecution on N1.84 billion fraud charges. He was re-arraigned on three counts of allegedly diverting these funds into personal accounts. He pleaded not guilty to all counts and was granted bail under the earlier conditions set by a sister court, presided over by Justice Bolaji Olajuwon. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that Justice Olajuwon had, on June 24, 2024, granted Mr. Sambo bail in the sum of N200 million with two sureties in like sum. The judge mandated that the sureties must possess landed property within the court's jurisdiction, with their original Certificates of Occupancy (CofO) deposited with the deputy chief registrar of the court. Additionally, the sureties were ordered to provide affidavits of their tax clearance for the past three years, along with one passport photograph each. Justice Olajuwon had initially adjourned the matter to October 17, 2024, for trial commencement, but her subsequent transfer to another division of the court necessitated the case to start de novo (afresh).

NAN further reported that the anti-corruption commission, in the case marked FHC/ABJ/CR/209/2024, charged Mr. Sambo as the sole defendant. The case, filed on May 10, 2024, by Mr. Akponimisingha, an Assistant Chief Legal Officer at ICPC, alleges that Mr. Sambo, around March 2023, while serving as the Payment Finalizer on the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) platform of REA, paid a total of N1.84 billion (N1,835,000,000.00) for a purported project supervision exercise without the requisite approval. The commission claims he disbursed the money in various tranches for the benefit of Henrrientta Onomen Okojie, Asuni Adejoke Aminat, Usman Kwakwa, Laure Shehu Abduilahi, Emmanuel Pada Titus, and Musa Umar Karaye, thereby contributing to the economic adversity of the REA. The ICPC asserted that this offense contravened and is punishable under Section 68 of the Public Enterprise Regulatory Commission Act, CAP. P39, Laws of the Federation, 2004.

In count two, Mr. Sambo was accused of illicitly using his access password to the REA’s GIFMIS platform to finalize the N1.84 billion payment in different tranches for the use of Okojie, Aminat, Kwakwa, Abdullahi, Titus, and Karaye for a purported project supervision exercise, all without proper authority. This offense was stated to be contrary to and punishable under Section 6(4) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc) Act, 2015. The third count alleged that Mr. Sambo conferred corrupt advantage on Okojie, Aminat, Kwakwa, Abdullahi, Titus, and Karaye by using his access password to the REA’s GIFMIS platform and finalizing the N1.84 billion payment in different tranches for their use for a purported project supervision exercise without requisite approvals. The ICPC contended that this offense was contrary to and punishable under Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.

NAN also reported that Karaye, Titus, and Okojie were separately arraigned before trial judge Emeka Nwite of a sister court on four counts each. Karaye and Titus were arraigned on June 13, 2024, while Okojie was arraigned on June 14, 2024. Usman Ahmed Kwakwa was also arraigned on June 13, 2024, in a separate case before the same judge. Each of these individuals was granted bail in the sum of N50 million with two sureties in like sum.