Ms Farouq and a co-defendant ailed to appear for arraignment on fraud charges before the court on Thursday.
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja on Thursday ordered the arrest of a former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, to answer charges of fraudulently diverting social security intervention funds during her tenure in office.
A statement from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said the court also ordered the arrest of the permanent secretary of her then-ministry, Bashir Nura Alkali.
According to the statement, the two of them failed to appear for arraignment on fraud charges before the court on Thursday, prompting the trial judge, Jude Onwuegbuzie, to issue a warrant for their arrest.
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The statement said only their co-defendant, Sani Nafiu Mohammed, the third defendant, was present in court.
Prosecution lawyer Rotimi Jacobs, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, told the judge that while EFCC had filed the charges against the defendants since December last year, arraignment had stalled due to the unavailability of the two defendants.
He said a previous attempt at the arraignment on 15 December 2025 failed because the two defendants were absent.
He also said their lawyers who attended the proceedings promised to produce them, but the defendants had yet to report at EFCC office, except the third defendant.
Mr Jacobs also noted that, although the defendants had been served with the charges, it was impossible until the court granted an order of substituted service.
The charges against Ms Umar-Farouq had not been previously reported, but she and the activities of her ministry had been in the news since her time in office over suspicious use of the social security intervention and social safety net funds entrusted to them.
Ms Umar-Farouq, who was the pioneer minister of the ministry established during former President Muhammadu Buhari's administration, has been named in various fraud allegations stemming from the scandals involving the various social security programmes.
President Bola Tinubu suspended the programmes shortly after assuming office in 2023 to investigate the allegations and find a fraud-proof way of running them.
Charges
Ms Umar-Farouq and her co-defendants face 21 charges of breach of trust, abuse of office, fraudulent award of contract and conversion of public funds involving $1.3 million and N746,574,303.
EFCC alleged that the sum of $1.3 million was excess funds paid by the Ministry under National Social Safety Net Coordinating Office (NASSCO) for the validation of Rapid Response Register beneficiaries.
It said the money was meant to be refunded by the contractor, Social Development by Visual ICT Limited, to the to the ministry. But instead of refunding it, the prosecution alleged, Ms Umar-Farouq and Mr Alkali, then-permanent secretary of the ministry, converted it to their "personal benefit".
EFCC, the prosecuting agency, alleged that the defendants committed the offences charged under section 315 of the Penal Code, between 8 May 2021 and 22 September 2022, while Ms Umar Farouq was serving as the minister overseeing the ministry.
Why court issued arrest warrant
Prosecution lawyer, Mr Jacobs, walked the judge through efforts to produce the defendants in court for the arraignment since last December when the charges were filed.
"We could not arraign them on 15 December, because we could not produce them; but their lawyers in court promised that they would produce the defendants, but we didn't see them until your lordship made an order for the state service.
"The defendants have now been served, my lord; only the third defendant has reported to the Commission when his surety was contacted. The third defendant's surety is also in court," he said.
The lawyer recalled that during investigations in 2024, the former minister wrote to the EFCC requesting a release of her passport for a medical checkup in Saudi Arabia.
"Since that passport was released to her, she has not returned the passport to the commission. We do not have the medical report in Saudi Arabia to date," Mr Jacobs said.
He also informed the court that Ms Umar-Farouq's lawyer gave him a sworn statement that morning, which claimed she was sick.
Upon his review, he said the medical reports were written after the former minister was already charged with the crime.
"No medical report was issued or shown to us for the approved journey and the release of her passport", Mr Jacobs said.
Ms Umar-Farouq's lawyer, Audu Ibrahim, informed the court that the former minister's absence was due to her ill health.
He urged the court to accept the sworn statement, but the court rejected it.
Thereafter, Mr Jacobs requested the arrest of Ms Umar-Faroq and Mr Alkali.
"We are praying for your lordship to order or issue a warrant of arrest or bench warrant against the first and second defendants. It is also supported by an affidavit by one Celeb Peter on 15 April 2026, showing that the first and second defendants were granted bail but failed to report back and that the charge had been filed and served on them, but they have failed to appear before the court today.
"It is imperative, therefore, for this honourable court to permit the Commission to arrest the first and second defendants so that they can be compelled to appear before the court."
But Mr Ibrahim pleaded with the court to allow him to produce Ms Farouq in six weeks.
After listening to their submissions, the judge ordered the arrest of the former minister and Mr Alkali and set 18 Mary for arraignment.
Long road to trial
As minister, Ms Umar-Farouq led a scandal-scarred Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development which championed the federal government's social security intervention funds, including the direct cash transfers and school feeding.
In September 2020, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) said its investigations revealed a diversion of N2.67 billion meant for school feeding during the COVID-19-induced lockdown.
The funds were reportedly intended for feeding boarding students in Federal Government Colleges who were all at home during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Calls for her probe and possible prosecution intensified after she left office upon the completion of the second and final term of President Muhammadu Buhari in May 2023.
She served as the minister between August 2019 and May 2023.
On 8 January 2024, the EFCC detained Ms Umar-Farouq for questioning over allegations of corruption in the handling of N37.1 billion social intervention funds during her tenure.
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EFCC's investigation follows reports of diversion of funds her ministry.
In July 2024, while EFCC investigation was going on, the Federal High Court in Lagos, ordered the former minister to account for payments of N729 billion to 24.3 million poor Nigerians for six months and also provide the list and details of the beneficiaries who received the payments, the number of states covered and the payments per state. The judgement followed a Freedom of Information suit brought by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP).
Ms Umar-Farouq has, however, emphasised her willingness to defend her actions in a tweet she posted on X in the wake of EFCC investigations into her.
"I remain proud to have served my country as a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with every sense of responsibility and will defend my actions, stewardship and programmes during my tenure whenever I am called upon to do so," she wrote.
Her successor, Betta Edu, appointed by President Bola Tinubu in 2023, was also caught in the web of another scandal shortly after she took office.
PREMIUM TIMES reported the scandal including the approval of payment of hundreds of millions of naira into private accounts of civil servants.
Mrs Edu has come under criticism from Nigerians for ordering the transfer of N585.2 million into the private bank account of a civil servant, who is the accountant in charge of grants for Vulnerable Nigerians.
Ms Edu has also faced EFCC investigation into the scandal, although the outcome or status of the probe is not yet public.
In January 2024, EFCC detained her for a few hours as part of the probe.
