These transactions form part of a grand scheme through which public funds meant for national security operations were diverted for private use under the administration of the former NSA.
By Idris Saidu
365Daily – Fresh revelations emerged on Tuesday, November 11, 2025, in the ongoing trial of former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), as a prosecution witness detailed before an Abuja High Court how billions of naira meant for national security operations were allegedly funneled into private accounts linked to the defendants.
Dasuki, who served as NSA under former President Goodluck Jonathan, is standing trial alongside a former General Manager of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Aminu Baba-Kusa, and two companies, Acacia Holdings Limited and Reliance Referral Hospital Limited, on an amended 32-count charge of criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving N33.2 billion.
Testifying before Justice C.O. Agbaza of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Maitama, the first prosecution witness (PW1), an investigator with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), narrated how the commission uncovered multiple fund transfers from the Office of the National Security Adviser’s (ONSA) Operations Account to companies connected to Baba-Kusa.
Led in evidence by EFCC counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, the witness explained that investigators wrote to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) seeking information on the ownership of Acacia Holdings Limited, Aravcaria Farms, Reliance Referral Hospital Limited, and other firms linked to the transactions.
According to him, CAC records revealed that Acacia Holdings Limited is owned by Baba-Kusa, while Aravcaria Farms Limited and Pinmax Security and Gas are sister companies. The records further showed that Baba-Kusa’s wife held a significant stake in Acacia Holdings, owning 1.8 million shares. The CAC documents were admitted as exhibits E1 to E4.
The EFCC investigator also told the court that his team obtained account statements and payment mandates for the ONSA Operations Account, number 101419287, domiciled with Zenith Bank Plc. Analysis of the documents, he said, showed that payment instructions, signed by Dasuki himself, authorised the transfer of N650.75 million to accounts belonging to Acacia Holdings Limited at United Bank for Africa (UBA) and EcoBank, as well as to Reliance Referral Hospital Limited’s account with First Bank.
Further scrutiny of Acacia Holdings’ UBA account (number 1017394650) revealed another N200 million transfer from ONSA on October 9, 2014. The EFCC witness said subsequent disbursements from the Acacia account showed payments to individuals and affiliated companies, including a N3 million cheque withdrawal by one Atahiru Maccido, a financial controller at Acacia, on October 14, 2014.
The next day, October 15, 2014, N1 million was transferred to Aravcaria Farms Limited, owned by Baba-Kusa, while N2 million, in two separate transactions of ₦1 million each, was debited as payment for the director’s loan.
The EFCC maintains that these transactions form part of a grand scheme through which public funds meant for national security operations were diverted for private use under the administration of the former NSA.
Justice Agbaza adjourned the case to January 13, 14, and 15, 2026, for continuation of trial.