The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed February 26, 2026, for judgment in the case filed by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, against suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari over allegations of failure to declare assets and money laundering.
The NDLEA is prosecuting Kyari—former head of the Police Intelligence Response Team—alongside his younger brothers, Mohammed Kyari and Ali Kyari, on a 23-count charge centred on non-disclosure of assets, concealment of property, and conversion of funds.
Justice James Omotosho set the judgment date after counsel for all parties —NDLEA prosecutor Sunday Joseph, Kyari’s lead counsel Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, and the brothers’ lawyer Monjok Agom—adopted their written addresses and made their final arguments.
The anti-narcotics agency alleges that Kyari and his siblings failed to declare multiple assets, insisting it uncovered 14 properties, including shopping malls, a residential estate, farmland, plots of land, and a polo playground linked to Kyari in Abuja and Maiduguri.
The agency also traced over N207 million and €17,598 to Kyari’s bank accounts across GTBank, UBA, and Sterling Bank.
The prosecution maintains that the defendants disguised ownership of the assets and engaged in the conversion of funds, offences punishable under Section 35(3)(a) of the NDLEA Act and Section 15(3)(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011. All three defendants pleaded not guilty.
To prove its case, the NDLEA called 10 witnesses and tendered over 20 exhibits before closing its case.
Also Read:Abba Kyari denies ownership of several properties
Kyari opted for a no-case submission, arguing that prosecutors failed to establish that the assets in question belonged to him.
Justice Omotosho, however, dismissed the application on October 28, holding that the prosecution had established a prima facie case requiring the defendants to enter their defence.
Kyari opened his defence on November 4, insisting he fulfilled all statutory requirements for asset declaration, including those of his wife.
He denied owning some of the properties listed by the NDLEA, stressing that several belonged to his late father, who had “about 30 children.” He also distanced himself from the polo playground in Borno, expressing shock that the property was attributed to him.
On November 26, Kyari closed his defence after completing his testimony and undergoing cross-examination. His brothers declined to call witnesses, opting instead to rely solely on the prosecution’s evidence.
This trial is separate from the ongoing cocaine trafficking case in which Kyari and several police officers are standing trial before Justice Emeka Nwite, also at the Federal High Court in Abuja. Both cases were instituted by the NDLEA in 2022.
Judgment on the asset-related charges will be delivered in February, a decision widely anticipated given the high-profile nature of the case.
NAN
