Monday, October 12, 2026 - Director of Accounts of the Nigerian Navy, Rear Admiral Tahir Yusuf (Rtd), who was declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over an alleged N2 billion fraud, has again been sighted moving freely in Nigeria.
The EFCC had in October 2022 told a Federal High Court in
Abuja that Yusuf was on the run and could not be reached.
According to SaharaReporters, the retired senior officer was
seen this week in a residential area of Kaduna State, the same city where the
EFCC sealed several properties linked to him.
This comes months after a similar report by SaharaReporters
that he was sighted in Abuja moving with security aides despite being on the
EFCC wanted list and the Nigeria Immigration Service watchlist.
He is being prosecuted by the Nigerian Government through
the anti-graft agency for allegedly stealing N2 billion while serving as
Director of Nigerian Navy Accounts.
The anti-graft agency claimed that all efforts to locate
Yusuf's whereabouts had proved unsuccessful since March 16, 2022, when nine
counts were filed against him.
The EFCC's counsel, Mr Cosmas Obeta Ugwu, had lamented that
the defendant could not be found and therefore could not be brought before the
court to defend the criminal charges against him.
However, he was seen in a light-blue kaftan standing beside
a silver Mercedes-Benz car parked on the grass verge with his hands behind his
back.
Near him, a woman in a brown hijab was seen filming with her
phone, pointing towards him.
In the background, a man in military camouflage uniform said
to be a naval officer was standing near the gate, while a red Volkswagen Passat
station wagon was parked nearby with people moving in and out.
The case against Yusuf dates back to his time as Director of
Navy Accounts.
The EFCC told the Federal High Court in Abuja that it
received intelligence on unusual transfers from the Nigerian Navy's official
account to personal accounts belonging to Yusuf and another retired officer,
Babajide Oguntade.
Investigators alleged that about N2 billion was moved into a
joint account operated by the two officers under the name Bitmas Enterprise and
was spent. The commission also said it uncovered seven other bank accounts
belonging solely to Yusuf in Zenith Bank Plc and Skye Bank Plc (now Polaris
Bank).
The charge sheet revealed that on March 14, 2012, Yusuf
allegedly took possession of N135.4 million which he lodged in his Bitmas
Enterprises account, 1001439871.
The money was transferred from the Defence Intelligence
Agency personnel account, while another N197.8 million was also transferred in
the same manner into the Bitmas account.
The EFCC also charged him with unlawful transfer of N148
million from the Defence Intelligence Agency to his company account at Zenith
Bank and N334 million into the same company's account in the same manner.
Also, Yusuf was alleged to have taken possession of another
N152 million and another N20 million from the Defence Intelligence Agency
transferred into the company account.
The anti-graft agency also alleged that the former Naval
Chief diverted $300,000 from a Navy personal account meant for the purchase of
furniture for Navy Secondary School at Okura to his company account domiciled
at Zenith Bank before he escaped to an unknown destination.
EFCC counsel Elizabeth Alabi had obtained an ex-parte order
from Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu, granting the EFCC Chairman permission to direct the
banks to freeze the accounts pending investigation.
In 2020, Justice Ojukwu went further and ordered the
permanent forfeiture to the Federal Government of N392,695,857.87, plus
$91,955.38 and £15,050 held in domiciliary accounts, found to have been
fraudulently amassed by the retired Admiral.
Following the forfeiture, EFCC operatives sealed properties
in Zaria and Kaduna allegedly bought with proceeds of the fraud.
They include Emerald Hotels and Suites in Zaria, two
uncompleted buildings in Zaria and Kaduna and Bitmas Bakery Limited in Zaria.
Yusuf fled Nigeria to Dubai, United Arab Emirates in 2018
after he was invited by the EFCC and was subsequently declared wanted.
The EFCC later wrote to the Comptroller-General of the
Nigeria Immigration Service, asking that Yusuf be placed on its watchlist and
that the commission be alerted whenever he travelled through any airport or
border.
However, in October 2021, SaharaReporters exclusively
reported that Yusuf had sneaked back into Nigeria through Niger Republic using
allegedly fake travel documents procured with the help of compromised
officials.
Since then, he has reportedly been shuttling between Abuja
and Kaduna without being re-arrested.
The repeated sightings have raised concerns about the
effectiveness of the wanted list and whether the retired officer is enjoying
protection.
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