A Federal High Court has set November 25, 2025, for Willie Obiano’s fraud trial.
The former Anambra Governor faces N4 billion charges filed by the EFCC in Abuja.
A Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed November 25, 2025, as the new date to begin trial against former Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano, over alleged N4 billion fraud.
Justice Mohammed Umar, who now handles the case, announced the date during proceedings on Thursday, July 24. Obiano is facing a nine-count charge filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which accuses him of money laundering, fund diversion, theft, and corruption.
The trial is starting afresh after the case was reassigned to Justice Umar on May 8, 2025, by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho. It was previously being handled by Justice Inyang Ekwo, who had scheduled the matter for May 26 before the reassignment. However, Justice Umar recently transferred from the Enugu Division was unavailable on the previous date, prompting a fresh mention of the case on July 24.
During Thursday’s sitting, Justice Umar, after attending to three judgments and several cases, adjourned the matter until November for the formal commencement of trial.
Before the reassignment, EFCC’s lead counsel, Sylvanus Tahir, SAN, had already presented five witnesses under Justice Ekwo. These included three bank officials and two bureau de change operators.
One of the bankers, Ugochukwu Otubelu, who testified as the third prosecution witness (PW3), said he managed Obiano’s security vote account and confirmed that funds from that account were transferred to six private companies.
Also, the fifth witness, Ayuba Tanko, a currency exchange dealer, revealed that from April to December 2017, a total of N416 million was paid into his company’s account in several tranches by a proxy of Obiano. This amount was exchanged for about $1.137 million.
Willie Obiano served as Governor of Anambra State from March 2014 to March 2022.
