An investigator with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday told an Abuja high court how funds running into hundreds of millions of naira were allegedly transferred from the office of the national security adviser (ONSA) to companies linked to former government officials.
The witness, testifying as the first prosecution witness (PW1), appeared before C.O. Agbaza, judge of the federal capital territory (FCT) high court, Maitama, in the trial of Sambo Dasuki, former national security adviser (NSA).
Dasuki is standing trial alongside Aminu Baba-Kusa, former general manager of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), and two firms — Acacia Holdings Limited and Reliance Referral Hospital Limited.
The defendants are facing a 32-count amended charge bordering on criminal breach of trust and money laundering to the tune of N33.2 billion.
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Led in evidence by Rotimi Jacobs, the prosecution counsel, the EFCC investigator said letters were written to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to determine the ownership of companies that featured during the investigation, including Acacia Holdings Limited, Aravcaria Farms, Reliance Referral Hospital Limited, and Pinmax Security and Gas.
He said CAC’s response showed that Acacia Holdings is owned by Baba-Kusa, while Aravcaria Farms and Pinmax Security and Gas are sister companies.
He added that Baba-Kusa’s wife was listed as a major shareholder in Acacia Holdings, with 1.8 million shares. The documents were admitted in evidence as exhibits E1 to E4.
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The witness said the EFCC also obtained records of ONSA’s operations account with Zenith Bank (account number 101419287), including payment mandates directing the financial institution to debit N650.75 million from the account and credit Acacia Holdings’ accounts with United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Ecobank, as well as Reliance Referral Hospital’s First Bank account.
According to him, the payment instructions were duly signed by Dasuki.
The investigator added that UBA account records for Acacia Holdings showed another N200 million transfer from the ONSA account on October 9, 2014, in addition to the N600 million earlier received.
He said analysis of the transactions revealed several disbursements to individuals and related entities.
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“On October 14, 2014, N3 million was withdrawn by Atahiru Maccido, a staff and financial controller of Acacia Holdings. The following day, N1 million was transferred to Aravcaria Farms, while N2 million was used to offset a director’s loan in two separate tranches of N1 million each,” the witness told the court.
After hearing the testimony, the judge adjourned the case to January 13, 14, and 15, 2026, for continuation of trial.
