The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday adjourned the trial of Halima Buba, the Managing Director (MD), SunTrust Bank Ltd, until Nov. 26 for continuation of trial.
Justice Emeka Nwite
fixed the date to attend to other high profile cases in the docket of the
court.
The judge also cited
the recent recommendation of his name and 11 other judges by the National
Judicial Council to President Bola Tinubu for appointment as Appeal Court
justices as another reason.
The News Agency of
Nigeria (NAN) reports that the bank MD, alongside her Executive Director/Chief
Compliance Officer, Innocent Mbagwu, are being prosecuted by EFCC over alleged
12 million dollars fraud.
They were arraigned on
July 13, 2025 and admitted to N100 million bail each with one surety each in
the like sum.
Justice Nwite also
ordered that their international passports be deposited with the court
registry.
When the case was
called, Ogechi Ujam, counsel for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC), informed the court that the matter was adjourned for ruling on the
commission’s motion seeking the revocation of Buba’s bail.
The application was
filed by the EFCC following alleged refusal by the bank MD to appeal in court
for her trial after she was granted the permission by the court to travel
abroad for a treatment arising from alleged pregnancy complications.
The commission had
argued that after the expiration of the scheduled time for her return to the
country, Buba failed to comply with the court order.
However, Buba and her
co-defendant, Mbagwu, were in court.
Justice Nwite then
said that event had overtaken the ruling since Buba was in court
The EFCC’s lawyer and
Johnson Usman, SAN, who appeared for Buba, agreed with the judge’s remark.
Usman, who thanked the
judge for the indulgence, informed the court that Buba finally gave birth to
two baby boys.
With the agreement of
counsel, Justice Nwite consequently adjourned the matter until Nov. 26 for
continuation of trial.
NAN recalls that Mr
Suleiman Ciroma, the 1st prosecution witness (PW-1), had, July 17, 2025, told
the court how the sum of 12 million dollars was swapped in SunTrust Bank within
10 days.
Ciroma stated this
while being led in evidence by EFCC’s lawyer, Ekeho identified Buba, said
though he had never met Mbagwu one-on-one before, he said they talked on phone.
The PW-1 tendered in
evidence a bundle of documents to support his testimony before the court.
He narrated how the
defendants facilitated the release of the $12 million at branches of the bank
in Abuja and Lagos State, within 10 days. (NAN)
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