Arrest warrant: ‘Ex-Minister Sadiya in Egypt’, counsel defends absence in Court

Former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, was on Monday absent at the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Apo, Abuja, where Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie maintained the arrest warrant earlier issued against her. The warrant, issued on April 16, 2026, was sustained after the court was informed that she failed to appear […]

Former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, was on Monday absent at the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Apo, Abuja, where Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie maintained the arrest warrant earlier issued against her.

The warrant, issued on April 16, 2026, was sustained after the court was informed that she failed to appear for her scheduled arraignment in a case filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Farouq is standing trial alongside two others, Bashir Nura Alkali and Sani Nafiu Mohammed, over allegations of criminal conspiracy, abuse of office and diversion of public funds amounting to $1.3 million and N746.7 million.

At Monday’s proceedings, prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, told the court that the matter was fixed for arraignment but the first defendant was absent without any explanation.

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“My lord, we were here on April 16, 2026, when your lordship granted us a bench warrant to arrest the first defendant. It was because of that, the second defendant immediately approached the Commission and surrendered himself in obedience to your lordship’s order. We urge your lordship to remove the bench warrant from the second defendant as we will be applying that the bench warrant for the first defendant be sustained.”

The prosecution counsel also reminded the court that the defence lawyer for the first defendant, Oladipo Okpeseyi, had earlier asked for one month to produce his client in court.

He further recalled that the judge had insisted he would not depart from the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 by granting such a long adjournment, but only agreed to it after a plea from the defence.

“My expectation this morning will be for my colleague to say that his client he promised to produce is in court today but alas he did not do so. I will urge your lordship to ensure that the undertaking is enforced by counsel to produce his client instead of asking the court to discharge the order. My lordship should not listen to them until the undertaking is enforced,” he said.

Defence counsel, Oladipo Okpeseyi, informed the court that Farouq was in Egypt receiving medical attention and would not be able to attend proceedings for about two months.

“My lord, she is in Egypt. I learnt that her doctor said she is not medically fit to appear today. There is a medical report I received on my phone last night that she is in the hospital on doctor’s advice in Egypt. She will need about two months to recover before she can come. We will be humbly asking for an adjournment,” he said.

Justice Onwuegbuzie, however, rejected the excuse, describing it as tactics aimed at stalling the trial.

He expressed displeasure over the absence of the former and maintained that the arrest warrant remained in force.

“At the last adjournment, M.S. Ibrahim promised the court to produce the first defendant. It will be impossible to grant another adjournment. I will not tolerate unnecessary adjournment in my court. I will give you a short adjournment and you will go and bring her, even if she is in a wheelchair. And if she is not here, the court will do what it needs to do,” he said.

The matter was adjourned to June 8, 2026, for arraignment.

The EFCC had earlier declared the former Minister wanted over alleged abuse of office and diversion of public funds.

In a notice published on its website on Saturday, the agency called on members of the public with useful information about her whereabouts to contact any of its offices nationwide through the phone numbers provided.

According to the EFCC, Umar Farouq, 52, is from Zamfara State, with her last known address listed as EN008, Okpo River, off Agulu Street, Maitama, Abuja.

The former minister served under ex-President Muhammadu Buhari from 2019 to 2023.

The EFCC is currently investigating alleged fraud involving about N37 billion linked to the ministry during her tenure.