April 29, 2022

Justice Fadima Murtala Aminu of the Federal High Court sitting in Damaturu, has adjourned till May 30, 2022 for ruling on the admissibility or otherwise of the trial within trial, in a case involving Dr. Abdu Bulama, former Minister of Science and Technology.

According to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in a statement on Friday, Bulama is  standing trial for allegedly receiving the sum of N450m from Diezani Alison- Madueke, former Minister of Petroleum Resources, to influence the outcome of the 2015 Presidential Election.

Bulama was the coordinator of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s 2015 Re-election Campaign Committee in Yobe State.

He was re-arraigned on November 8, 2021 alongside a former Commissioners for Integrated Rural Development in Yobe State, Mohammed Kadai, Abba Gana Tata, Muhammad Mamu and Hassan Ibn Jaks on seven- count charge of criminal conspiracy and money laundering following the judgment of an Appeal Court in Gombe State.

The court upheld the argument of the EFCC, that the lower court erred by discharging and acquitting the defendants following their ‘no case submission’ upon the closure of the prosecution’s case.