A federal high court in Abuja has granted permission to Yakubu Adamu, Bauchi state finance commissioner, to travel to Saudi Arabia for hajj and to undergo surgery abroad.
Delivering a ruling on Friday, Justice Emeka Nwite, the presiding judge, also ordered the temporary release of the defendant’s international passport to enable the trip scheduled between May 9 and May 28, 2026.
Justice Nwite held that ill-health constituted a special circumstance that could justify the release of a defendant’s travel documents.
“There is no doubt that ill-health can be a special circumstance for the grant of application of this nature,” the judge said.
“I must make it quite clear that everyone is entitled to be offered access to good medical care, whether he is being tried for a crime or have been tried or simply in detention.
“It is only the living that can praise God. So, it is only the living that can be tried, convicted, and punished for an offence.
“Consequently, I make the following order: I hereby make an order granting leave to the first defendant/applicant to travel on an official duty to coordinate the 2026 Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia and to utilise the opportunity to undergo a pending surgery.
“I hereby make an order permitting the temporary release of the international passport of the first defendant/applicant presently deposited with the registrar of this honourable court to enable him travel to Saudi Arabia from 9th May 2026 to 28th May 2026.”
The court ordered Adamu to return the passport immediately after his return to Nigeria.
The ruling followed a renewed application by the defendant after the court had earlier rejected a similar request.
In the previous application, the EFCC opposed the request, arguing that one of the supporting affidavits attached to the application was unsigned and therefore incompetent.
The anti-graft agency also argued that Adamu failed to show sufficient evidence that the proposed surgery could not be carried out in Nigeria.
However, the defendant later filed additional documents, including a certified medical document and an appointment slip from Saint Xavier General Hospital in Saudi Arabia.
According to court documents, the hospital scheduled an appointment for Adamu with Hossam Motez, a medical doctor, on May 11, 2026.
Nwite held that the fresh documents addressed the issues raised in the earlier application.
The judge also dismissed the EFCC’s argument on the disputed medical document, describing it as “a computer-generated cost estimate invoice and treatment plan” rather than a medical report requiring a signature.
Adamu and his company, Ayab Agro Products and Freight Company Limited, are being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged N4.6bn money laundering.
According to the six-count charge, Adamu allegedly conspired with Ishaku Mohammed Aliyu, managing director of I.S. Makayye Investment Resources Limited, and Muntaka Mohammed Duguri, both said to be at large, to launder N4.65 billion between June and December 2023.
The EFCC alleged that the funds were released by Polaris Bank under the pretext of financing the supply of motorcycles to the Bauchi state government through Emmanuel Asomugha General Enterprises, noting that the motorcycles were never supplied.
One of the counts also alleged that Adamu acquired and transferred N976 million paid into the account of I.S. Makayye Investment Resources Limited, knowing that the money was proceeds of unlawful activity linked to the diversion of the bank facility.
