Alleged N35m fraud: Non-availability of bank statement stalls ex-SDP chairman’s trial

A Wuse Zone 2 Magistrates’ Court, Abuja, on Wednesday adjourned until July 20 the alleged N35 million financial misappropriation case instituted by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) against its former National Chairman, Shehu Gabam.

The court’s decision follows the non-availability of a bank statement expected to be tendered as evidence.

Our correspondent reports that Gabam was arraigned before the court in May in suit number DCC/10/2026 over alleged financial misappropriation of N35 million during his tenure as the party’s national chairman.

He was subsequently granted bail by the court, which adjourned the matter for hearing.

At Wednesday’s proceedings, the court fixed July 20 for continuation of hearing after taking note of the prosecution’s explanation regarding the pending bank statement expected to form part of the evidence in the case.

Speaking with journalists after Wednesday’s proceedings, Prof. Sadiq Gombe, the party’s National Chairman, said the adjournment became necessary because the party had yet to obtain the bank statement.

According to him, the party subsequently approached the court registry to issue a subpoena, compelling the bank to produce the document, after unsuccessful efforts to secure the document from the bank.

“The case has been adjourned to July 20 as a result of our inability to lay our hands on one of the key documents that are going to be tendered for the case, which is the bank statement.

“We applied to the bank, and the bank was not able to give us the document, which is the bank statement.

“So thereafter, we had to go through the registry of the court to subpoena the bank for the bank to bring the said document by itself.

“The bank said because it involves a lot of pages, the document is bulky, and they need time to process and stamp it after obtaining approval from the headquarters.

“They asked for one week before they would be able to make the document available.

“As a result of that, we informed the court, and the matter has now been adjourned to July 20 for continuation of hearing,” he said.

Gombe expressed confidence that the document would be available before the next adjourned date to enable the prosecution proceed with its case.

He also reiterated the party leadership’s commitment to pursuing the matter through legal means and expressed optimism that the court process would establish the facts surrounding the allegations.