CASE NUMBER 10905:

STATE COUNSEL CONVICTED BY THE STATE FOR BRIBERY

Alleged Perpetrators(s)

Zanna Dalhatu

Location (Town / State)

Maiduguri, Borno

Date of Event

18 Nov 2019

Date of republication

18 November every year

Case category (Choose all that apply)

Case Summary

The EFCC secured the conviction of Zanna Dalhatu, a lawyer and Prosecuting Counsel with the Federal Ministry of Justice in Borno State for demanding a N7 Million Bribe from the Borno State Road Maintenance Agency (BORMA). Dalhatu was sentenced to eighteen months jail term for this.

Full story

Zanna Dalhatu was employed by the Federal Ministry of Justice and posted to the Maiduguri office of the Ministry in Borno State. His job was to prosecute members of the public who were suspected of committing crimes against the Federal Government of Nigeria in Maiduguri, Borno State. Little did he know that he would be prosecuted and convicted by his employer, the Federal Government for the very crime he had strongly condemned in his career as a lawyer.

Dalhatu’s journey to prison began when he demanded the sum of Seven Million Naira (N7 Million) as bribe from one Shuaibu Mohammed, the Chief Accountant of the Borno State Road Maintenance Agency (BORMA). He had demanded this sum to facilitate the termination of a pending criminal case against a staff of the agency.

However, luck ran for Dalhatu when he was traced and trailed by the operatives of the EFCC whilst he was in the process of collecting the sum of money from his victory. He was arraigned before Honourable Justice Umaru Fadawu of the Borno State High Court, Maiduguri on an amended charge which reads as follows:

“That you, Zanna Dalhatu, while being a prosecuting counsel with the Federal Ministry of Justice, sometime in November 2018 in Maiduguri, Borno State within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, attempted to obtain the sum of N7,000,000.00 (Seven Million Naira) only, from one Shuaibu Mohammed, the Chief Accountant of Borno State Road Maintenance Agency (BORMA) as gratification to induce by illegal means, the team of investigators attached to Economic Governance Section (E.G) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to terminate a criminal case pending with the said Commission against some staff of Borno State Road Maintenance Agency (BORMA) and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 116 of the Borno State Penal Code Laws Cap. 102 and punishable under the same section.”


The EFCC had called three witnesses to prove its case against Dalhatu, however, the lawyer to Dalhatu had opted to pursue a “No-Case Submission” which was rejected by the court, and Dalhatu was ordered to open his defence. Instead of calling evidence to prove his innocence, Dalhatu chose to appeal against the ruling of the trial court on the no-case submission. His appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeal, Jos Division, which upheld the ruling of the Borno State High Court, and also ordered him to open his defence before the trial Court.

Defeated, Dalhatu returned to the trial Court where he pleaded guilty to an amended charge which was filed by the prosecution. Upon his plea, the court convicted him for the crime and sentenced him to eighteen months imprisonment without the option of a fine.

External links/URLs

https://punchng.com/court-jails-borno-prosecutor-for-soliciting-n7m-bribe/

https://www.thecable.ng/justice-ministry-prosecutor-jailed-18-months-for-demanding-bribe-from-suspect

https://efccnigeria.org/efcc/news/5156-lawyer-bags-18-months-withou

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