A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services (DSS) to investigate allegations of tampering with court exhibits in the ongoing N10 billion fraud trial involving Daudu Sulaiman, a nephew of former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello.
Justice James Omotosho, sitting at the Federal High Court, Maitama, issued the order on Thursday, February 5, 2026, following revelations that a court registrar, Nasiru Onimisi Zubairu, allegedly connived with the second defendant to delete incriminating WhatsApp messages from a mobile phone admitted as evidence.
The judge disclosed in open court that the registrar had confessed to him that Sulaiman approached him with a request to erase certain WhatsApp chats from the phone, which had been deposited with the court as Exhibits N and O. According to Justice Omotosho, the defendant allegedly provided a code to enable the deletion of the messages, which were said to be critical to the prosecution’s case.
“I have to disclose it because that is what the Chief Judge told us — to ensure disclosure at the earliest possible time. We have zero tolerance for this kind of conduct,” the judge said, before playing the registrar’s recorded confession in court and directing him to give a firsthand account of the incident.
Testifying before the court, Zubairu stated that Sulaiman approached him and, after learning that he had accommodation challenges, promised to provide him with a house in exchange for deleting certain WhatsApp messages contained in the exhibits.
“I was asked to delete some WhatsApp messages from the exhibits on the promise that I would be given a house,” the registrar told the court, adding that he opened only two chats but could not recall their exact contents.
Following the disclosure, the Director of Public Prosecution, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), was granted leave by the court to lead the investigation officer, Muhammed Audu Abubakar of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to determine whether any messages had been deleted from the phone.
Abubakar informed the court that several WhatsApp messages spanning multiple dates between 2020 and 2022 were missing from Exhibits N and O. He cited gaps in conversations dated December 3 to December 28, 2020, and multiple missing entries in January 2021, including messages allegedly referencing large sums of money in transit to Abuja.
According to the EFCC officer, deleted messages included chats dated January 26, 2021, which read, “Hudu is bringing N100m,” and January 30, 2021, stating, “N60m is on transit,” as well as another message indicating that N30m was being conveyed to Abuja. He further testified that messages dated August 30, 2021, and February 28, 2022, referencing cash transactions, were also no longer present on the device.
“It is not here, my Lord. It has been deleted,” Abubakar said repeatedly, noting that the messages had been encountered during the EFCC’s initial investigation.
Reacting to the development, Oyedepo urged the court to order an immediate and thorough investigation, describing the situation as an “irresistible suspicion” that a key exhibit had been tampered with. He also requested the revocation of the defendant’s bail and a forensic examination of the device.
Defence counsel expressed surprise at the allegations but urged the court to await the outcome of a forensic investigation before taking further action.
In his ruling, Justice Omotosho ordered the Nigeria Police Force and the DSS to jointly investigate the alleged tampering and adjourned the case until February 9, 2026, for continuation of trial.
