Darius Dickson Ishaku, the former governor of Taraba, and his former Permanent Secretary, Bello Yero, have been put on trial in Abuja for a N27 billion diversion of public funds. The trial, however, was adjourned till October because Ishaku was granted permission to go abroad for treatment.
Before this adjournment, the prosecution witness gave their testimony for several weeks about how the money meant for distributing grains during Christmas was transferred from a government local bank account to cash in a bag. The Darius Ishaku trial over Taraba public funds is not an abstract political story for a newspaper headline. This is the story of what a social program becomes if it does not receive the financial support meant for it.
What Exactly Is Darius Ishaku Accused Of?
Darius Dickson Ishaku and Bello Yero have been indicted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission of Nigeria on a 15-count charge that borders on criminal breach of trust, conspiracy, and conversion of public funds valued at N27 billion.
None of the contents of this piece should be understood as a pronouncement that any of them is guilty of anything. The trial is still ongoing, and neither man has pleaded guilty. It is being held by Justice S.C. Oriji of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja, and the third witness for the prosecution in this case is Taiwo Johns, the official working under Yero in the Bureau.
John testified that funds from several local government councils, including Gassol, Donga, Zing, and Yorro, were repeatedly transferred into the account of his own company, P3 Cornerstone International Nigeria Limited, on instructions he says came from Yero; the Bureau’s Director of Finance Babangida Hassan; and Chief Cashier John Columba.
He told the court that 69 separate transfers moved through that account from the Gassol Local Government Salary Transmission Account alone, adding up to somewhere between N1.7 billion and N1.8 billion, money he says was already in budget for the purchase and distribution of Christmas grains.
Why These Allegations Matter Beyond the Courtroom
Statistics from the State Ministry of Health showed that there were 2,851 cases of malnutrition among children reported in Taraba’s local governments in 2024. Out of this number, 269 cases happened in Gassol, the very same local government whose salary transfer account was used to make payments to Taiwo Johns, as testified in court.
A mother from Ardo-Kola LGA, Faizat Ibrahim, reported that she had lost three of her children to malnutrition. The issue was so significant that Governor Agbu Kefas started the “Operation Fight Against Malnutrition,” while a nutrition expert from UNICEF suggested that the state become part of the Child Nutrition Fund.
This is not to say that any isolated incident caused these high levels of malnutrition. But, it shows that Taraba State is already in a dire crisis, not in one where it can afford to lose more welfare money to a personal bank account on a nutrition-related issue.
How This Affect The Women And Children
Transparency International’s research on the gendered impact of corruption finds that women, as primary caretakers of their families, are more dependent on public service provision than men. They are more exposed to the effects when that provision fails or is diverted and do not have the resources to look for private alternatives.
Nationwide, UNICEF reports that more than 2 million Nigerian children are affected by severe acute malnutrition. Malnutrition is the primary cause of 45% of child deaths under the age of five as children feel the effects of the lack of distribution first. The same data shows that 7 percent of Nigerian women of childbearing age also suffer from acute malnutrition.
But that is just the tip of this iceberg. It was also found that 63% of people in Nigeria are multidimensionally poor, and that figure spikes up to 72% in rural area.
A Pattern That Happened Overtime
This isn’t the first time claims about diverting public funds have been made. The former Commissioner of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Emeka Ufomba, is said to be at large by the EFCC following reports that the funds meant for the 17 local government areas of the state were diverted.
According to the Commission, it has been able to recover over ₦364 billion and achieve a record 4,111 convictions in just 2024.
The abuse of government budgets for food, salaries, community development schemes and the like, while not comparable to the billions of naira involved in large scale corrupt practices, are often the ones that affect the people most directly.
Why Nigerians Abroad Should Care About This Trial
Research on remittances and public spending in Africa shows that when public services fall short, families increasingly rely on money from relatives abroad to fill the gap.
In other words, when a local welfare program doesn’t reach the household it was meant for, whether due to underfunding or, as alleged in this case, diversion, someone else usually ends up covering it instead. For many Nigerian households, that someone is a relative abroad.
A large share of remittance money moves from family member to family member abroad and covers the kind of costs—food, school fees, medical bills—that a local welfare program is meant to help with. The CBN’s diaspora remittance inflow in 2025 was an estimated $21.8 billion. Meanwhile, the diaspora remittance inflow for 2024, according to the federal government, was at $20.93 billion. An amount that was four times Nigeria’s Foreign Direct Investment within that period. For Nigerians in the UK, the US, and Canada, this situation has become a benchmark for how communities get by.
What’s Next in the Darius Ishaku Trial?
In mid-July, the case seemed to be progressing well, with John’s testimony spread out between hearings on June 15, July 7, July 13, and July 14. But on July 15, the court agreed to former Governor Ishaku’s application to go to Dubai for medical reasons. Following that, Justice Oriji adjourned the case until October 5, 2026.
This means that with cross-examination yet to take place, publicly available information about this case ends midway, and the verdict for this case will be pending for more months.
For other recent examples of how legal processes affect women’s lives directly, see our coverage of the allegations against Graham Platner and what they mean for consent law, and for more on how African women are building institutions of their own alongside these accountability stories, see UNESCO’s AI training program for African women founders.
Staff writer at Women Digest covering beauty, fashion, wellness and life.