How Bauchi govt shared $17m to Miyeti Allah leader, others

An investigation based on official records and court filings, has uncovered how substantial Bauchi State Government funds were allegedly moved outside the banking system under the pretext of meeting the state’s “security obligations” between late 2023 and July 2024.

The documents show that millions of dollars were reportedly distributed in cash through intermediaries to individuals and companies at informal venues in Abuja, including a restaurant, a supermarket and a private home, with little or no supporting documentation.

One of the beneficiaries named in the records is Bello Bodejo, a leader of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore.

According to government documents, Bodejo received about $2.33 million in four separate cash payments between December 2023 and March 2024.

This was despite his earlier detention and pending terrorism-related charges during the same period.

PREMIUM TIMES investigation revealed that in July 2024, the Bauchi State Accountant-General reportedly wrote to Governor Bala Mohammed, seeking approval to formally regularise the cash transactions.

The memo indicated that close to $17 million and ₦75.2 million had been disbursed to various recipients between January and July 2024, including Bodejo.

On December 30, 2025, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) filed terrorism financing and money laundering charges against the state’s Commissioner for Finance, Yakubu Adamu, alongside three civil servants — Balarabe Ilelah, Aminu Mohammed Bose and Kabiru Mohammed.

The EFCC alleges that the accused authorised and received funds that were used, in whole or in part, to support a terrorist organisation and unlawfully handled nearly $7 million in cash outside the formal banking system.

The defendants were arraigned at the Federal High Court in Abuja on December 31, 2025, where they pleaded not guilty to all counts.

The case has triggered a public war of words between Governor Bala Mohammed and the EFCC.

While the governor accused the commission of acting on the instructions of political opponents, the EFCC rejected the claim, insisting that its actions were guided solely by evidence and law.

In early January, the presiding judge ruled that the volume and seriousness of the evidence presented by the EFCC made it inappropriate to grant bail to the defendants at that stage of the trial.