A Federal High Court in Abuja has revoked Nicholas Mutu’s bail, a former legislator accused of embezzling N320 million in a money laundering case, after he breached court-imposed travel limits.
Mutu, who served as Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) between 2014 and 2016, has been charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) with 13 counts of money laundering.

The court had previously imposed stringent bail terms, including the surrender of his passports and a ban on travel overseas without special court permission.
However, during Thursday’s proceedings, the court discovered that Mutu had been travelling abroad with an undeclared passport, violating these terms.
Prosecution counsel Ekele Iheanacho, SAN, provided evidence from the Nigerian Immigration Service indicating that Mutu was using a passport other than the three he had submitted to the EFCC.

Justice Giwa Ogunbanjo was upset about the violation and described it as blatant contempt of court.
There is no excuse for the defendant to disobey this honourable court’s instruction. He fled the nation without being asked or even informed. She declared, “This will not be ignored.”
It was discovered that Mutu had travelled without authorisation following months of uncertainty regarding the location of his passports.

Previously, the court struggled to identify them, causing trial delays. On Wednesday, November 20, 2024, the passports were discovered in the court’s registry, leading the judge to apologise.
“I should apologise to the prosecution. “We have always believed that the passports were not in our possession,” Ogunbanjo stated.

Mutu must now surrender all of his passports with the court registrar and refrain from leaving the country until the case is settled.
The trial has been extended until February 17-18, 2025, following the submission of an affidavit by the defence for additional assessment by the prosecution.