Former EFCC Chairman Will Not Testify in Diezani Trial - Onoriode Anselm

 Former EFCC Chairman Will Not Testify in Diezani Trial, AS EFCC Agent Admits to Mishandling Evidence

In a tactical victory for the defence, the former chairman of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, will not give live testimony in the bribery trial of Diezani Alison-Madueke after prosecution and defence teams agreed to admit his evidence as “agreed facts,” the court heard today. In UK criminal proceedings, “agreed facts” or formal admissions are governed by Section 10 of the Criminal Justice Act 1967, which allows both prosecution and defence to admit any fact that would otherwise require oral evidence. Once such an admission is made, it becomes “conclusive evidence in those proceedings of the fact admitted,” meaning the jury must accept those facts as proven without requiring witnesses to testify to them. The development followed defence objections to Bawaappearing as a witness, citing concerns about his character, and means jurors will not hear dir

ectly from the man who once led EFCC investigations into Alison-Madueke and her associates.

The resolution came after legal arguments that began yesterday, when the judge cautioned defence counsel against relying on unsubstantiated press reports in their application to exclude Bawa. The judge made clear that any decision on his admissibility as a witness should be based on proper legal grounds rather than media coverage. Following today’s discussions, both sides confirmed they were able to agree on most aspects of Bawa’s proposed evidence, with only one contentious issue remaining. Rather than call him to the witness box, his testimony will now form part of the agreed facts presented to the jury. After the conclusion of the hearing for the day, several members of the defence team were overheard discussing the judge’s directives in comparison to the media trial which they believe Alison-Madueke has been subjected to since her arrest in 2015.

Bawa, who served as EFCC chairman from February 2021 until his suspension in June 2023, had direct involvement in the Alison-Madueke investigation. He joined the EFCC in 2004 as a cadet officer and rose through the ranks, heading the commission’s investigations into the former petroleum minister and her associates in October 2015. At 40, he was the youngest person and the first non-police officer to be appointed as substantive chairman of the anti-graft agency. His tenure, however, was marked by significant controversy. In June 2023, President Bola Tinubu suspended Bawa indefinitely, citing “weighty allegationsof abuse of office.” The suspension was announced by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, which stated that the action was taken “to allow for proper investigation into his conduct while in office.”

On the same day as his suspension, Bawa was taken into custody by the Department of State Services. He remained in detention for 134 days, finally being released in October 2023. During this period, civil society organisations raised concerns about his prolonged detention without trial, with some groups describing it as a violation of due process. Among the most prominent allegations against Bawa was a claim by former Zamfara State Governor Bello Matawalle that Bawa demanded a $2 million bribe from him. Matawalle, who was under EFCC investigation at the time for alleged diversion of N70 billion in state funds, made the accusation in a BBC Hausa Service interview, stating: “He requested a bribe of $2 million from me and I have evidence of this.” The EFCC strongly denied the allegation at the time, describing it as “phantom claims” and dismissing it as an attempt by a “suspect under investigation for corruption” to engage in “mudslinging.” Another allegation that circulated widely concerned Bawa’s overseas travel, with claims that he spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a trip to Saudi Arabia with family members. These allegations were never tested in court.

The day’s proceedings began with a delay due to a juror arriving late. Once proceedings resumed, the final Nigerian witness, EFCC investigator Chinedu Eneanya, gave evidence via video link. He told the court that he had examined materials seized from Alison-Madueke’s Abuja residence at 10 Fred Chiluba Close during a 2015 search. His task was to look for receipts or written confirmations showing that expenses incurred abroad were reimbursed by Nigerian government bodies. “We looked but could not find any such material,” Eneanya testified. He confirmed that he found no documentation for chauffeur services, approvals for the use of private residences including Harley House and The Falls, or records showing the St Edmund’s Terrace flats were designated as an official ministerial residence.

Under cross-examination, Eneanya acknowledged that he joined the investigation only in December 2025 and had no involvement with the exhibits during the preceding decade. He worked from an inventory prepared by Bawa in 2018 and admitted he did not check for discrepancies between that inventory and the materials he was given.

The cross‑examination exposed a stark and troubling inconsistency: while Bawa’s 2018 inventory expressly recorded only two “Ghana‑must‑go” bags, Eneanya was presented with three bags for examination by his superiors. Eneanya insisted that his mandate was limited to searching whatever materials were handed to him, not verifying the accuracy of the underlying inventory — yet the discrepancy remains glaring and wholly unexplained.

The defence pressed this inconsistency before the jury as clear proof that the Nigerian authorities mishandled the evidence, underscoring a pattern of procedural carelessness that strikes at the integrity of the entire investigation.

Following Eneanya’s evidence, the video link to Nigeria concluded without hearing from the final scheduled witness, Augustine Okwe, who remained absent due to illness for the second consecutive day.

The court also heard further cross-examination of NCA analyst Tracy Connelly by counsel for third defendant Olatimbo Ayinde. The questioning focused on challenging whether Ayinde was present when purchases were made using her company cards, with counsel comparing transaction times to distance his client from the payments. The court was dismissed early to allow the legal teams to finalise their agreement on Bawa’s evidence.