Judge recuses self from Kogi Governor’s Chief of Staff Ali Bello’s N10bn fraud trial over alleged tampering with evidence

Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja has withdrawn from the N10 billion money laundering trial of Ali Bello, Chief of Staff to Kogi State Governor Usman Ododo, following allegations that a key exhibit in the case was tampered with.

Omotosho announced his decision when the case came up for the adoption of written addresses on no-case submissions filed by Bello and his co-defendant, Dauda Sulaiman. The judge said continuing to handle the case could create perceptions of bias and undermine public confidence in the judiciary and the administration of justice.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission filed the case, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/550/2022, against Bello and Sulaiman in 2022 over the alleged diversion of funds belonging to the Kogi State Government. The defendants have denied wrongdoing. The controversy over the evidence emerged after court registrar Nasir Zubairu Onimisi admitted that he had tampered with an exhibit containing a mobile phone with WhatsApp messages relating to transactions connected to the case.

Omotosho said Onimisi had earlier visited his residence and confessed to interfering with the phone, claiming that he had been promised a house in Abuja by the defendants. “When the matter was called at about 10:00am, I played in open court the recording of the conversation that had taken place in my sitting room when Nasir came to disclose these facts to me,” the judge said.

According to Omotosho, Onimisi subsequen