Wanted-ex Minister Sadiya Umar Farouq is reportedly hospitalised in Egypt as an Abuja court upholds the EFCC arrest warrant against her over alleged fraud and abuse of office
Court Sustains EFCC Arrest Warrant Against Sadiya Farouq Over Alleged N1.3bn Fraud
Former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, is reportedly undergoing critical medical treatment in Egypt and has been declared medically unfit to return to Nigeria for her ongoing trial over alleged fraud and abuse of office.
The disclosure was made on Monday at the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Apo, Abuja, where the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is prosecuting the former minister alongside Bashir Nura Alkali, a permanent secretary in the ministry, and Sani Mohammed on a 21-count charge bordering on alleged criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of public funds.
The anti-graft agency accused the defendants of allegedly diverting about $1.3 million and N746.6 million belonging to the Federal Government.
At the resumed proceedings, EFCC counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, reminded the court that the matter was slated for arraignment but noted that Farouq failed to appear despite an earlier bench warrant issued against her by the court.
Jacobs recalled that on April 16, 2026, the court authorised the EFCC to arrest the former minister following her absence from court, adding that the second defendant had since complied with the order and presented himself before the court.
He subsequently urged the court to maintain the arrest warrant against the former minister pending her appearance.
Responding on behalf of Farouq, her lawyer, Oladipo Okpesheyi, told the court that he received information from his client only the previous night, explaining that she was currently hospitalised in Egypt on medical advice.
“My lord, she is in Egypt. I learnt that her doctor said she is not medically fit to appear today,” Okpesheyi told the court, adding that medical documentation from the hospital handling her treatment had been forwarded to him.
The development triggered fresh tension in the courtroom as the presiding judge, Jude Onwuegbuzie, expressed frustration over what he described as repeated delays in the matter.
Justice Onwuegbuzie warned that stricter measures could be taken should the former minister fail to appear at the next adjourned date, stressing that the court would not tolerate unnecessary setbacks in the high-profile corruption case.
The court subsequently upheld the arrest warrant earlier issued against Farouq and adjourned proceedings until June 8, 2026, for arraignment.
Farouq, who once supervised some of Nigeria’s most sensitive social intervention programmes under the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, has remained under intense public scrutiny since the EFCC began investigations into the handling of funds linked to the ministry.
