Pat Stevens/
A Federal High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja, has ordered the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services to investigate allegations of evidence tampering in the ongoing N10 billion fraud trial involving Ali Bello and other defendants.
The order was issued on Thursday, by Justice J. K. Omotosho, following revelations that a court registrar and the second defendant in the case may have interfered with exhibits already admitted in evidence.
Justice Omotosho directed the security agencies to investigate the court registrar, Nasiru Onimisi Zubairu, and the second defendant, Daudu Sulaiman, over alleged tampering with Exhibits N and O, which include WhatsApp chat records extracted from a mobile phone deposited with the court.
The directive followed a disclosure by the judge that Zubairu had earlier confided in him that Sulaiman approached him with a request to delete certain WhatsApp messages from the phone using a code.
According to the judge, the registrar admitted that the request was made in exchange for assistance with accommodation.
Justice Omotosho disclosed the matter openly in court, stating that it was in line with the Federal High Court’s policy of discovery and disclosure.
“I have to disclose it because that is what the Chief Judge told us, to ensure we disclose such a thing as early as possible. We have a policy of discovery and disclosure at the Federal High Court. We have zero tolerance for this kind of attitude. The person involved is here, I will call him so that you will hear from the horse’s mouth,” the judge said.
Zubairu was subsequently invited to address the court, where he narrated how the second defendant allegedly approached him.
He told the court that Sulaiman asked him what he wanted and that he mentioned his accommodation challenges.
“I was asked to delete some certain information, some WhatsApp messages in the exhibits, on the promise that I would be given a house,” the registrar told the court.
Justice Omotosho then allowed the prosecution, led by the Director of Public Prosecution, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, to call on the EFCC’s investigating officer, Muhammed Audu Abubakar, to confirm whether the chats in question had been deleted.
Testifying before the court, Abubakar confirmed that significant portions of data contained in Exhibits N and O, including WhatsApp chats spanning 2020 to 2022, had indeed been deleted. He told the court that several conversations, including those referencing the movement of large sums of money, were missing from the phone.
Under questioning, the witness identified multiple dates on which chats were no longer available, including conversations dated December 3 to December 28, 2020, January 2021, August 2021, and February 2022. Specific messages referencing amounts such as N100 million, N60 million, N50 million, and N93 million were cited as having been deleted.
Earlier, Justice Omotosho asked the registrar to specify which chats he deleted. Zubairu told the court he could not remember the exact messages but insisted he only opened two chats.
Reacting to the development, Oyedepo urged the court to order an urgent investigation, describing the situation as raising “irresistible suspicion” that a key exhibit containing crucial evidence had been tampered with.
He also applied for the revocation of the defendants’ bail and requested a forensic examination of Exhibit N.
Defence counsel expressed shock at the allegations but urged the court to await the outcome of the forensic investigation before taking further steps.
In his ruling, Justice Omotosho declined to make any immediate orders on bail but directed that the matter be investigated by the Police and DSS.
He adjourned the case to February 9, 2026, for continuation of trial.
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