Bank worker tells Abuja court how Bauchi state money worth N1.6 billion went into a private company account.
A bank worker named Williams Abimbola told a senior judge in Abuja that money belonging to the government and people of Bauchi State was moved into a private business account.
The worker, who checks bank rules at United Bank for Africa (UBA), appeared in the Federal High Court in Abuja during a court sitting on Monday, September 21, 2026.
The main person in this story is the top money keeper of Bauchi State, named Sirajo Muhammed Jaja. The anti-graft agency called the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) brought Jaja to court together with four other men named Aliyu Abubakar, Abubakar Muhammed Hafiz, Ari Manga, and Muhammed Aminu Bose.
The government officers are facing five charges for allegedly hiding, stealing, and taking public money that does not belong to them, which totals N1,635,270,350.90. All the accused men said they did not steal any money.
During the court talk, the EFCC lawyer, Ekele E. Iheanacho (SAN), called the bank worker to explain what happened with the government bank accounts.
The bank worker told the judge, Justice Obiora Egwuatu, that her daily job is to check bank records and answer questions whenever police or government officers come to ask about payments.
She brought out official bank papers showing how money was sent out from the official Bauchi State Sub-Treasury account straight into the private account of a company called JASFAD Resources Enterprises, which belongs to one of the men on trial, Aliyu Abubakar.
The bank worker explained the dates and the huge amounts of money that moved out of the government account into the private business account. Pointing at the bank records, she told the court: “My Lord, on the 29 of October 2024, we have three credit transfers into the account of JASFAD from the Sub-treasury Bauchi Account. We have a transfer of N13,144,500; we also had a transfer of N17,169,300, and there is a transfer of N46,030,500.”
She continued to give more dates to the court, showing how the money kept leaving the state account. The bank worker explained that on November 7, 2024, another N17,886,250 went into the company account, but the bank paper did not show who wrote the cheque.
See Also: Opposition ADC Party Says It No Longer Trusts INEC To Protect Votes In 2027 Elections
She mentioned that on November 15, two more payments of N12,215,000 and N16,919,750 were sent, followed by N90,373,550 on November 19, and N140,087,500 on November 22.
The biggest money movements happened towards the end of the year. The bank worker stated: “On December 27, 2024, there were three transfers: the first one is N335,040,000, the second one is N300,000,000, while the third is N26,975,000.”
She also revealed that more payments continued into early 2025, including over N56 million sent on March 5, over N45 million sent on March 7, and nearly N80 million sent in two payments on March 12, 2025.
The lawyers defending the Bauchi top officer and his group told the judge that they were not ready to ask the bank worker questions yet and needed another day.
Judge Obiora Egwuatu then stopped the court sitting and picked October 22, 2026, as the new date for the lawyers to ask their questions and continue the trial.
Jennifer Baba is a journalist, international news correspondent, and writer at Moderncrux, where she covers artificial intelligence, fintech, emerging technologies, global politics, and international affairs. Based in Nigeria, she is passionate about transforming complex global developments into clear, engaging stories that inform and inspire readers.
