The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) will, on March 9, re-arraign an Abuja-based lawyer, Ahmed Abdulrahman, and his co-defendants, for allegedly cyberbullying Sen. Shehu Buba Umar.
Justice Rita Offili-Ajumogobia fixed the date, on Monday, due to the absence of the 4th and 5th defendants in court.
When the case was called on Monday, all the defendants, except the 4th and 5th defendants (Abdulrashid Musa and Nasir Abubakar), were in court.
The AGF’s counsel, Leyii Abueh, informed the court that the matter was scheduled for continuation of hearing.
She said though the court hinted that the amendment to the charge could be done orally with the agreement of the defence lawyers, Abueh said the prosecution sought to go with the formal amended charge.
The lawyer, however, told the court that the defendants could continue to enjoy the earlier bail granted by the court after taking their plea.
Offili-Ajumogobia, who agreed with the prosecuting lawyer’s submission, said since two defendants were not in court, the re-arraignment cannot proceed.
The judge then adjourned the matter until March 9 and 10 for continuation of trial.
It would be recalled that on Feb. 10, Justice Offili-Ajumogobia had advised parties in the case to agree to continue with the earlier charge and to allow the prosecution to correct the mistakes on the charge sheet in order to accelerate hearing in the trial.
The judge, who said justice delay is justice denied, said such a move would save the precious time of the court on hearing another bail applications of the defendants, among others.
Two witnesses had, earlier, given their evidence in the ongoing trial of Abdulrahman and his co-defendants.
One of the witnesses, Rabiu-Rangers Abdullahi, on Feb. 9, told the court how David Daure, the 2nd defendant, attempted to use the name of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Yusuf Tuggar, to defraud Sen. Umar.
The AGF and Minister of Justice, Mr Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, had, in December 2025, taken over the prosecution of the matter from the Inspector General (I-G) of Police.
Abdulrahman (1st defendant) and his co-defendants were initially being prosecuted by the I-G.
The I-G, in the initial charge, marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/526/2025 and filed by Anthony Egwu on Oct. 6, 2025, named David Daure, Ishaq Muhammed, Abdulrashid Musa and Nasir Abubakar as 2nd to 5th defendants respectively.
The defendants were, on Oct. 30, 2025, arraigned on 11 counts which also bordered on alleged cybercrime, defamation, advance fee fraud, among others.
They, however, pleaded not guilty to the counts and they were remanded in Kuje Correctional Centre before they were admitted to bail.
In count one of the earlier charges, the defendants were alleged to have, sometime in 2025, conspired among themselves “to commit an offence, to wit; cyberstalking against Senator Shehu Buba Umar.”
The offence is said to be contrary to Section 27(1)(b) and punishable under Section 21(1)(b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention etc.) Act 2015 (as amended) 2024.
In count three, Abdulrahman was alleged to have, sometime in 2025, intentionally sent a video via his Tiktok handle with user name “Kibanna Channel” and his Youtube channel to defame the lawmaker by linking him to sponsorship of banditry with a view to tarnishing his image as a serving Senator.
The suspect was alleged to have stated that “Senator Umar, a serving Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is a sponsor of banditry and called for his investigation, a statement you made by means of computer systems and network knowing same to be false, for the purpose of causing breakdown of law and order and causing the Senator fear of death”.
The offence Is also said to be contrary to Section 24(1)(5) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act 2015 (as amended) 2024, among other counts, among others.