An investigator with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday narrated before an Abuja High Court how hundreds of millions of naira were allegedly diverted from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) to companies associated with former senior government officials.
Testifying as the first prosecution witness (PW1) before Justice C.O. Agbaza of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Maitama, the EFCC official spoke in the trial involving former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki.
Dasuki is being tried alongside Aminu Baba-Kusa, a former general manager at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), and two companies — Acacia Holdings Limited and Reliance Referral Hospital Limited — on a 32-count amended charge bordering on criminal breach of trust and money laundering amounting to N33.2 billion.
Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, the witness said the EFCC wrote to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to verify the ownership of several companies that featured in its investigation. These included Acacia Holdings Limited, Aravcaria Farms, Reliance Referral Hospital Limited, and Pinmax Security and Gas.
According to him, CAC records confirmed that Acacia Holdings is owned by Baba-Kusa, while Aravcaria Farms and Pinmax Security and Gas are sister firms. He added that Baba-Kusa’s wife held 1.8 million shares in Acacia Holdings. The court admitted the CAC documents as exhibits E1 to E4.
The witness further explained that the EFCC obtained details of ONSA’s Zenith Bank operations account, which showed payment instructions signed by Dasuki authorising the transfer of N650.75 million to Acacia Holdings’ accounts at UBA and Ecobank, as well as to Reliance Referral Hospital’s First Bank account.
He told the court that Acacia Holdings’ UBA account also received an additional N200 million transfer from ONSA on October 9, 2014.
Analysis of the accounts, he said, revealed a series of cash withdrawals and transfers to related entities.
“On October 14, 2014, N3 million was withdrawn by Atahiru Maccido, a staff and financial controller of Acacia Holdings.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 testified.
Justice Agbaza adjourned the matter to January 13, 14, and 15, 2026, for continuation of trial.
