The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned five officials of the Katsina State Board of Internal Revenue and a bank employee over an alleged diversion of N1.2 billion in tax funds.
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The Commission disclosed this in a statement posted on its official Facebook page on Wednesday. It said the suspects were arraigned before Justice Musa Danladi of the Katsina State High Court on Tuesday, August 5, 2025, on a seven-count charge bordering on conspiracy and misappropriation of funds from international health agencies, including the WHO, Médecins Sans Frontières, and ALIMA.
The defendants are Nura Lawal, Sanusi Mohammed Yaro, Ibrahim Mamman, Abubakar Saidu, Rabiu Adamu Abdullahi, and Adam Alhassan Albashir, a First Bank relationship manager.
Between January 2022 and August 2024, the defendants allegedly conspired to divert N1,235,330,000 meant for the state government. The EFCC said the funds were illegally converted for personal use, violating Sections 58 and 298 of the Katsina Penal Code. All six pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutor Musa Isah requested a trial date, while defence counsels sought bail. Although Isah opposed the applications, Justice Danladi granted bail to each defendant in the sum of N5 million, with one surety who must reside within the court’s jurisdiction and own verifiable property. The trial is set to begin on October 27, 2025.
EFCC investigations revealed that Rabiu Abdullahi, then Director of Collections and now a Permanent Secretary, approved the opening of a “BOIRS” account at Sterling Bank, with Yaro and Mamman as signatories. The account was allegedly used to channel funds to NADIKKO General Suppliers, a company owned by Nura Lawal.
The funds were traced to various bank accounts linked to the suspects.
