AMINA ADAMU AUGIE, JSC (Delivering the Leading Judgment): The Appellant was still in office as Governor of Taraba State when a Petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission [EFCC], dated 12/6/2006, opened a can of worms, which ultimately led to his arrest by the EFCC on 6/6/2007, about a week after he left office.
In the Petition written by a Law Firm on behalf of the widow of one Usman Abubakar Biu, "the MD/Chief Executive Officer" of Al Usab International Ltd., who died during the execution of a contract awarded to the Company to rehabilitate the Wukari Water Project; it was alleged that his brother, Sulaiman Abubakar, who continued with the contract, fraudulently withdrew the sum of N135,794,608, paid to the deceased's Company by the Taraba State Government.
The said Sulaiman Abubakar was arrested, and his narration of how the said sum, paid into the Company's bank account, was later withdrawn and shared out to Taraba State Government Officials, including the Appellant, le…