₦33.2bn Dasukigate Scandal: How Multi-Million Naira Funds Were Diverted from ONSA Operations to Private Firms – Witness
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The first prosecution witness (PW1) in the ongoing trial of former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd.), on Tuesday narrated before Justice C.O. Agbaza of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Maitama, Abuja, how several multi-million-naira transactions were allegedly diverted from the Operations Account of the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) to private companies linked to the defendants.
Dasuki, the first defendant, is being prosecuted alongside Aminu Baba-Kusa, a former General Manager of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), as well as two companies, Acacia Holdings Limited and Reliance Referral Hospital Limited on an amended 32-count charge bordering on criminal breach of trust and money laundering to the tune of ₦33.2 billion.
Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, the witness an investigator with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) continued his testimony-in-chief, explaining how funds from the ONSA’s Operations Account were traced to accounts belonging to the defendants and their associates.
According to the witness, the EFCC wrote several letters to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) requesting information on the registration and ownership of companies that featured during the investigation. These included Acacia Holdings Limited (third defendant), Aravcaria Farms Limited, Reliance Referral Hospital Limited (RRH), Pinmax Security and Gas, and others. Responses from the CAC were received, analyzed, and tendered in court as Exhibits E1 to E4.
The witness explained that the purpose of the CAC inquiry was to determine the real identities of the directors and shareholders of these entities. The CAC responses revealed that Acacia Holdings Limited is owned by the second defendant, Aminu Baba-Kusa, and that Aravcaria Farms Limited and Pinmax Security and Gas are sister companies to Acacia Holdings. The responses further disclosed that Baba-Kusa’s wife is a major shareholder in Acacia Holdings, with 1,800,000 (one million eight hundred thousand) shares.
He further testified that the EFCC obtained account statements and account opening packages for the ONSA Operations Account (Account No. 101419287) domiciled with Zenith Bank Plc.
The EFCC also received payment mandates authorizing Zenith Bank to debit the ONSA Operations Account with ₦650,750,000 (Six hundred and fifty million, seven hundred and fifty thousand naira) and credit the accounts of Acacia Holdings Limited at United Bank for Africa (UBA) and EcoBank, as well as the account of Reliance Referral Hospital Limited at First Bank of Nigeria.
According to the witness, the payment mandate instructions were duly signed by the first defendant, Dasuki.
He added that further analysis of Acacia Holdings’ UBA account (Account No. 1017394650) revealed another transfer of ₦200 million from the ONSA account on October 9, 2014, apart from an earlier ₦600 million transaction.
The account statement also showed that various individuals and companies received credits from Acacia Holdings Limited. These included a ₦3 million cheque withdrawal by one Atahiru Maccido, identified as a staff member and financial controller of Acacia Holdings, on October 14, 2014. On October 15, 2014, ₦1 million was transferred to Aravcaria Farms Limited, owned by the second defendant, while another ₦2 million — in two separate tranches of ₦1 million each — was used to pay a director’s loan.
After the testimony, the court adjourned the matter to January 13, 14, and 15, 2026, for continuation of trial.
