On Thursday, April 23, 2026, Justice Lawu Lawan of the Yobe State High Court in Damaturu found Abubakar Sadiq Abubakar guilty and sentenced him to 37 years in jail.
The Maiduguri Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) charged the defendant with four counts of acquiring by false pretenses, criminal misappropriation, forgery, and using counterfeit papers as if they were real to the tune of N29,175,000. Twenty Nine Million, One Hundred and Seventy Five Thousand Naira.
Count one says: “That you, Abubakar Sadiq Abubakar, sometimes in 2023, at Potiskum, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, with intent to defraud did obtain the gross sum of N29,175,000 (Twenty Nine Million, One Hundred and Seventy Five Thousand Naira) from one Ibrahim Zakari Waziri, Shittu Ali Firi and Afreebak Nigeria Limited a company registered in Nigeria under the pretence that the said amount represent payment for the supply of 38.9 metric tons of white sorghum when you represented yourself as a Procurement Officer of Bua Food Plc which you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1) (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act,2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.”
Count three reads: “That you, Abubakar Sadiq Abubakar, sometimes in 2023, at Potiskum, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, did fraudulently make a false documents to wit: (1) a BUA Food Plc supply agreement dated 10th December, 2024, in the name of Afreebak Nigeria Limited, Potiskum, Yobe State purportedly issued by BUA Food Plc for the supply of 38.9 metric tons of white Sorghum (2) as official statement purported to emanate from BUA Food Plc dated 7th October, 2014 (3) and acknowledgement of receipt of 38.9 metric tons of white sorghum purported to emanate from BUA Food Plc knowing all to be forged and handed same to Ibrahim Zakari Waziri, Shittu Ali Firi and Afreebak Nigeria Limited and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 364 and punishable under Section 366 of the Penal Code Law Cap 102 Laws of Yobe State.”
When the court read the allegations to the defendant, he said he was “not guilty,” which led the EFCC to put him on trial.
During the trial, the prosecution’s lawyer Mukhtar Ali Ahmed called five witnesses and gave the court many papers as evidence.
Justice Lawan then found Abubakar guilty on count one and gave him the choice of paying a fine of N100,000.00 or serving ten years in prison. The person who is guilty of count two must pay a fine of N5,000 or spend two years in jail.
For count three, the convict must pay a fee of N100,000 or serve eight years in prison. For count four, the judge ordered him to pay a fine of N60,000 or serve seven years in prison.
The judge also told the defendant that he had to pay the petitioner N29,175,000 or spend ten more years in prison.
The convict’s trip to prison began when he went up to the petitioners and said he was a procurement officer for BUA Foods Plc. He then gave them phony paperwork for buying sorghum from the company. He took N29,175,000 from his victims. After that, he was arrested, tried, and found guilty.
About the Author
