The Federal High Court (FHC) in Abuja has turned down the bail application filed by the Bauchi State Commissioner for Finance, Yakubu Adamu, and his co-defendants.

Biztellers reports that they are standing trial over allegations of terrorism financing to the tune of $9.7 million.

In a ruling on Monday, Justice Emeka Nwite held that the charges brought against the defendants posed a threat to national security and public safety.

He further stated that terrorism-related offences undermine the nation’s social order and that releasing the defendants on bail ahead of trial could endanger the public.

The court, however, ordered an accelerated hearing of the case, noting that while Section 36(5) of the Constitution presumes an accused person innocent until proven guilty, the provision is “not absolutely right.”

“I am not unmindful of the constitutional provision of Section 36(5) which provides that every person who is charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed innocent until he is proven guilty.

“But I must not hesitate to state that the said constitutional provision is not absolutely right. In the consideration of an application for bail, all factors have to be considered,” Justice Nwite said.

Citing the 2001 case of Bamaiyi v. The State, the judge noted that the Supreme Court held that “it is proper to consider the nature of the offence, the nature of the evidence in support of it, and the severity of the punishment which conviction will entail.”

He said the court had taken these critical factors, including the likelihood of the defendants standing trial, into account, stressing that “these are not matters that should be glossed over.”

He added that, “I cannot say more than this erudite jurist. Our criminal justice system has its stipulations and safeguards for the prosecutor, the accused and the victim.

“In the proper operation of that system, it can be said that it is in the interest of the society, and with those safeguards, that if in an application for bail pending trial there is good reason to believe or strongly agree that the accused will not jump bail, thereby making himself available to stand trial, and/or will not interfere with witnesses thereby constituting an obstacle in the way of justice, the court will be acting within its undoubted discretion to grant bail.

“I have carefully considered the affidavit evidence available before me at this point in time.

“And I have also considered the proof of evidence, especially the statement of Dan Lawan Abdulmumuni and other prosecution witnesses, together with the grave threat to national security and public safety this case poses.

“And I have also taken cognizance that terrorism-related offences threaten social order and that pre-trial release could endanger the public,” the judge said.

“In my view, the prosecution/respondent has succeeded in raising a reasonable presumption of criminal responsibility on the part of the applicants (Adamu and co-defendants).

“In view of the foregoing, I am of the humble view, and I so hold, that the interest of justice will be met by giving the matter accelerated hearing.

“Consequently, the application is hereby refused,” he ruled.

Justice Nwite thereafter adjourned the matter until January 13 for the commencement of trial.

The Commissioner and his co-defendants — Balarabe Abdullahi Ilelah, Aminu Mohammed Bose and Kabiru Yahaya Mohammed, the 2nd to 4th defendants respectively — were remanded in Kuje Correctional Centre following their arraignment on a 10-count charge on December 31, 2025, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The judge had fixed Monday, January 5, for ruling on their bail applications.

The defendants pleaded not guilty to all the counts preferred against them by the anti-graft agency.

In count one, Adamu; Sirajo Jaja (then Accountant-General of Bauchi State, now at large); Samaila Irmiya Liman (now at large); Balarabe Ilelah; Aminu Bose; and Kabiru Mohammed (all alleged to be civil servants and signatories to Bauchi State Government accounts and/or payment instruments) were accused of committing the offence sometime between January and May 2024.

They were alleged to have conspired to provide cash totalling $2,300,000 for the benefit of Bello Bodejo and persons associated with him, pursuant to approvals granted by Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State.

Meanwhile, on Friday, the court granted Adamu bail in the sum of N500 million in a separate money-laundering case, with two sureties in like sum.

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The court ordered that the sureties must be landowners in Maitama, Asokoro or Gwarimpa districts of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, and that their property documents must be verified by the court registry.