The Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday set September 24, 25, and 26, 2025, as the deadline for the Federal Government to conclude its case in the decade-long trial of former National Security Adviser Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.) for alleged illegal firearm possession and money laundering.
Justice Peter Lifu, the trial judge, asked the prosecution to call any remaining witnesses and present all outstanding materials to establish its claims before Dasuki could begin his defence.
Dasuki has been on trial since 2015 on seven modified counts brought against him during the administration of late former President Muhammadu Buhari.
At a previous hearing, prosecution witness Monsur Mohammed, an exhibits keeper with the Department of State Services, stated that after Dasuki was arrested, his homes in Abuja, Kaduna, and Sokoto were searched for weaponry and money.
Mohammed told the court that items recovered from Dasuki’s residence at 46 Nelson Mandela Street, Asokoro, included two Freedom Radio CDs on Jokolo, two GTBank cheque books, two BlackBerry phones, a Nokia phone, a flash drive, an Apple laptop, and a statement of account. Senior Advocate of Nigeria Oladipupo Okpeseyi led the evidence.
Other goods identified were a Visa card, an approval letter for a radio station provided to Afri-Media Integrated Ltd, one CD on the arrest and execution of Mohammed Yusuf, $500, 533 Saudi Riyals, the data page of Abubakar Dasuki Ibrahim’s passport, his HSBC account book, and a Habibson Ltd chequebook.
The court accepted the materials as evidence, MSD 015 to MSD 034, without objection from Dasuki’s counsel, Ahmed Usman.
In another property at Sabo Birni, Sokoto State, the witness said $150,000 and N37.6m were retrieved and deposited with the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The prosecution said it would ask the DSS to deliver the cash to court as exhibits. No things were discovered on the Sultan Abubakar Road home in Sokoto.
The prosecution then requested an adjournment to disclose additional materials allegedly discovered during four different searches of Dasuki’s property.
Granting the motion, Justice Lifu warned that the government must be ready to close its case at the next sitting, following which the defence would start.
The judge fixed the trial to conclude on September 24, 25, and 26.
