Justice James Kolawole Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services (DSS) to investigate allegations of exhibit tampering involving the court’s registrar, Nasiru Onimisi Zubairu, and the second defendant in an ongoing N10 billion fraud trial, Daudu Sulaiman.

The exhibits in question were tendered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in support of fraud charges against Ali Bello, Chief of Staff to the Governor of Kogi State.

The order followed the judge’s disclosure that the registrar had confessed to him that Sulaiman allegedly approached him with a request to use a code to delete critical WhatsApp messages contained in a mobile phone submitted as evidence before the court.

Justice Omotosho played the registrar’s confession in open court and directed him to narrate the details of his interaction with the second defendant.

Explaining his decision to disclose the matter, the judge said the Federal High Court operates a strict policy of discovery and disclosure, with zero tolerance for misconduct.

“I have to disclose it because that is what the Chief Judge instructed us to do — to ensure such issues are brought to light as early as possible. We have zero tolerance for this kind of conduct. The person involved is present, and you will hear directly from him,” Justice Omotosho stated.

Zubairu subsequently told the court that Sulaiman approached him and asked what he wanted, to which he replied that he was facing accommodation challenges.

“I was asked to delete certain WhatsApp messages from the exhibits, with a promise that I would be given a house,” the registrar told the court.

The judge also permitted the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF), Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, to lead the EFCC’s investigating officer, Muhammed Audu Abubakar, in confirming whether any information had indeed been deleted from the phone.

Abubakar informed the court that several chats contained in Exhibits N and O, spanning between 2020 and 2022, were missing from the device.

Earlier, when asked to specify which chats he deleted, Zubairu told the court he could not recall, stating that he opened only two chats.

To further establish the extent of the deletions, Oyedepo directed the witness to examine Exhibit N, particularly conversations involving the Director-General of Government House.

Abubakar confirmed that chats dated between December 3 and December 28, 2020, were missing, noting that the messages stopped on December 22 and resumed on December 29, 2020.

He further testified that chats on January 13, 2021, including the message, “Abdurasheed will bring it to Abuja now,” were present, but subsequent messages dated January 22, 26, and 27, 2021, referencing cash transfers allegedly involving hundreds of millions of naira, had been deleted.

According to the witness, messages such as “Hudu will bring it now,” “Hudu is bringing N100 million,” and “N60m is on transit from Friday,” were no longer available on the phone.

He also stated that chats dated August 30, 2021, and January 2, 2022, referencing cash amounts of N50 million, N93 million, and N30 million, had similarly been deleted.

Further examination revealed that a chat referencing “Rabiu” on February 28, 2022, was also missing from the exhibit.

Abubakar confirmed that multiple critical messages originally contained on the phone had been deleted.

Reacting to the findings, Oyedepo urged the court to order an immediate investigation, stating that there was a strong suspicion that Exhibit N, which contained crucial evidence, had been tampered with.

He also applied for the revocation of the second defendant’s bail and requested a forensic examination of the device.

The defence counsel expressed surprise at the revelations but urged the court to await the outcome of the forensic investigation before taking further action.

In his ruling, Justice Omotosho ordered the police and the DSS to investigate the matter and adjourned the trial to February 9, 2026, for continuation.