Willie Obiano, immediate past governor of Anambra state. [PHOTO CREDIT: @WillieMObiano]
From our news desk, Benin
The trial, which began in January 2024, came up for the first time before the judge who was recently re-assigned the case.
By Agency Report
The N4 billion fraud trial of former Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano, has been adjourned indefinitely on Tuesday, 25 November, 2025 by the Federal High Court in Abuja.
This was at the instance of a request by the prosecuting agency; the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), through its lawyer, S.O. Obila.
The presiding judge, Mohammed Umar, sitting over the matter for the first time on Tuesday, granted the request.
According to media reports, the case was recently reassigned to Umar as the former trial judge Inyang Ekwo is serving a one year suspension slammed on him, by the National Judicial Council (NJC) in May.
Advertisement
Obila was said to have told the presiding Judge that he had the instruction from the lead prosecution counsel to request the court to adjourn the matter sine die.
“In the light of this, I have the instruction of the lead prosecuting counsel in this case, Mr Sylvanus Tahir, SAN, to apply to the Chief Judge that since we had called nine witnesses before the previous judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo, we should wait for him to return and conclude the matter,” he was quoted to have said.
Responding, the defence lawyer, Onyeachi Ikpeazu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said he was not opposing the application for adjournment since the prosecutor explained to him the difficulty his team had in getting the nine witnesses who had already testified.
Umar subsequently adjourned the matter indefinitely.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that Obiano, who was governor of Anambra State from March 2014 to March 2022, was arraigned by the EFCC on 24 January 2024, on nine counts of money laundering.
The anti-graft agency alleged that he misappropriated over N4 billion from the State’s security vote account, diverting funds into private entities and converting some into foreign currency.
In April 2024, trial judge Ekwo refused to quash the charges, ruling that the court had jurisdiction and that a prima facie case had been established against him.
NAN reports that nine witnesses have so far testified in the trial, including a Bureau de Change (BDC) operator who claimed he received about N416 million over eight months from the State’s security vote account.
The case was stalled, in part, because of Ekwo’s suspension by the NJC.
The NJC sanctioned Ekwo for delivering a ruling in Charge No. FHC/ABJ/CR/184/2021 without hearing the parties, and for ignoring an application to set aside proceedings conducted in their absence.
Tuesday’s proceedings came after Obiano was rumoured to have died in the United Kingdom.
The death speculation was debunked by a former Commissioner for Information in Anambra State, Don Adinuba.
(NAN)
Sponsored Content
