Court registrar faces probe over ‘evidence tampering’ in Ali Bello’s ‘N10bn fraud’ case

A federal high court in Abuja has ordered the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and the Department of State Services (DSS) to investigate alleged tampering with evidence in the ongoing N10 billion fraud trial involving Ali Bello, chief of staff to Usman Ododo, governor of Kogi.

James Omotosho, the presiding judge, gave the order on Thursday after revealing that Nasiru Onimisi Zubairu, the court registrar, admitted to deleting WhatsApp messages from a phone that had been tendered as evidence.

The judge said the registrar told him that Daudu Sulaiman, the second defendant in the case, had approached him to erase messages contained in exhibits N and O using a code.

Omotosho played the registrar’s confession in open court and directed him to explain what transpired between himself and the second defendant.

“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,” the judge said.

“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.”

While addressing the court, Zubairu said Sulaiman approached him and asked what he wanted.

He told the court that he raised his accommodation challenges during the conversation.

“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 said.

Following the disclosure, Omotosho permitted Rotimi Oyedepo, the director of public prosecutions, to lead the investigation officer, Muhammed Audu Abubakar, an operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to confirm whether the chats had indeed been deleted.

Abubakar told the court that several messages contained in exhibits N and O, spanning 2020 to 2022, were no longer on the device.

Earlier, the judge asked the registrar to specify the exact chats he deleted, but he said he could not recall, adding, “I can’t remember, but I opened only two chats.”

To establish the extent of the deletions, Oyedepo asked the witness to examine exhibit N, focusing on conversations involving the director-general of the Kogi government house.

The witness said chats between December 3 and December 28, 2020, were missing.

“There was no chat on 23 December; it stopped on December 22 and continued on 29 December, 2020,” he said.

On page 196 of the exhibit, Abubakar said the January 13, 2021, message — “Abdurasheed will bring it to Abuja now” — was present, noting that subsequent messages had been erased.

“On 22 January, 2021, the chat ‘Hudu will bring it now’ was deleted. There is nothing here on the phone; it has been deleted. What we have on 27th January is ‘Hudu is bringing it’ has been deleted,” he added.

According to him, other chats deleted include, “On 26 Jan 2021, Hudu is bringing N100m,” “On 30 Jan 2021… ‘N60m is on transit from Friday… they are on their way coming,’ ‘Hudu is on his way to Abuja… he is also coming with N30’m. “30 August 2021, ‘Mr Ododo has collected N50m and will be coming tomorrow to Abuja.’ ”.

Abubakar also said the message on page 296 — “Hudu is on his way, coming with N93m, N7m for TJ and for 2 Jan 2022” — was no longer available.

Oyedepo added that on page 297, a reference to Rabiu dated February 28, 2022, was also missing.

“It is not here, my Lord. It has also been deleted,” the witness said.

After reviewing the records, Abubakar confirmed that crucial information contained in the phone had been erased.

Reacting, Oyedepo urged the court to order an investigation.

“This issue should be investigated, and the report brought to your lordship. There is a very urgent, irresistible suspicion that exhibit N, which contains crucial evidence, has been tampered with,” he said.

“We apply that the lordship grant an order revoking the bail of the defendant and order a forensic investigation of exhibit N.”

Defence counsel expressed shock over the development but asked the court to await the outcome of the forensic investigation.

“I will urge my lord to await the outcome of the investigation,” he said.

In his ruling, Omotosho ordered the police and DSS to investigate the alleged tampering and adjourned the matter to February 9 for continuation of trial.

Ali Bello, a nephew of Yahaya Bello, former governor of Kogi, was arraigned alongside Suleiman on a 10-count charge of alleged misappropriation and money laundering before Omotosho in 2022.

The EFCC alleged the duo, alongside one Abdulsalami Hudu, a cashier at the Kogi government house, withdrew N10.2 billion from the state’s treasury for personal use.(The Cable)