The Babachir Lawal grass-cutting case became one of the most memorable public-sector controversies of President Muhammadu Buhari’s first administration. It began with questions about contracts awarded during the humanitarian emergency in North-East Nigeria, led to the dismissal of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and eventually produced a criminal prosecution involving transactions valued at more than ₦544 million.
Babachir David Lawal was removed from office in 2017 following a Senate investigation and a presidential panel. He was later prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. On 18 November 2022, the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory discharged and acquitted him and five co-defendants after upholding their no-case submissions.
The controversy brought together several important questions about public procurement, emergency spending, political responsibility, conflicts of interest and the administration of criminal justice in Nigeria.
PINE and the North-East Humanitarian Emergency
The contracts at the centre of the controversy were awarded under the Presidential Initiative on the North East, commonly known as PINE. The programme operated during the humanitarian crisis caused by the Boko Haram insurgency, which displaced large numbers of people and damaged communities across Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.
PINE was coordinated through the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. Its responsibilities included emergency intervention, reconstruction, rehabilitation and projects intended to support the recovery of communities affected by the insurgency.
Large amounts of public money were committed to emergency projects while internally displaced people continued to face shortages of food, shelter, healthcare, sanitation and other basic services.
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The project that became nationally known as the grass-cutting contract was formally connected to the removal of invasive plant species from river channels and work involving simplified village irrigation in Yobe State. The phrase “grass cutting” became the popular description of the project and remained the name by which the wider controversy was remembered.
The Senate Investigation
In December 2016, a Senate ad hoc committee investigating the humanitarian crisis in the North-East presented findings on the management of intervention funds. The committee was chaired by Senator Shehu Sani.
The committee examined emergency procurement, contractor selection, contract values and the effect of several projects on displaced communities. It also investigated the relationship between Rholavision Engineering Limited and Babachir Lawal.
Lawal had been associated with Rholavision before becoming Secretary to the Government of the Federation. The Senate committee reported that although he had resigned as a director, questions remained about his connection to the company and its financial activities.
Different figures appeared in reports about the contracts. Some accounts referred to approximately ₦223 million, while others cited sums of about ₦248 million or ₦272 million. These figures referred to different contract values, payments and transactions examined during the investigation.
One of the principal contracts was reportedly awarded to Josmon Technologies Limited for approximately ₦272.5 million. Rholavision Engineering Limited was also engaged as a consultant for about ₦7 million.
The Senate called for Lawal’s resignation and prosecution. Its report transformed the contracts from an administrative dispute into a major national political controversy.
Suspension and Presidential Investigation
President Muhammadu Buhari suspended Lawal from office on 19 April 2017. Ayo Oke, then Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, was suspended on the same day over a separate investigation involving money recovered from an apartment in Ikoyi, Lagos.
Buhari established a three-member investigative panel headed by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo. The other members were Attorney-General of the Federation Abubakar Malami and National Security Adviser Babagana Monguno.
The panel was instructed to investigate allegations of violations of law and due process connected with contracts administered under PINE. It invited officials and private individuals, examined documents and questioned Lawal about the contracts.
Lawal appeared before the panel in April 2017. The investigation continued for several months before the panel submitted its report to the President.
On 30 October 2017, Buhari accepted the panel’s recommendation and terminated Lawal’s appointment as Secretary to the Government of the Federation. Boss Mustapha was appointed as his successor.
Lawal’s dismissal marked the end of his service in one of the most influential offices in the Nigerian government. The Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation coordinates government policies, supports the work of the Federal Executive Council and connects ministries, departments and agencies with the presidency.
The Babachir Lawal Grass-Cutting Case Reaches Court
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission arraigned Lawal in February 2019 alongside Hamidu David Lawal, Sulaiman Abubakar, Apeh John Monday, Rholavision Engineering Limited and Josmon Technologies Limited.
The defendants pleaded not guilty to a ten-count charge involving alleged conspiracy, official corruption, fraudulent acquisition of property and the possession of private interests in public contracts.
The prosecution alleged that Lawal retained an indirect interest in Rholavision while serving as Secretary to the Government of the Federation. It also examined contracts awarded to Josmon Technologies and the relationship between Josmon and Rholavision.
The amended charges covered several transactions rather than a single payment. They included consultancy payments and contracts valued at approximately ₦272.5 million and ₦258.1 million.
When the transactions were combined, the criminal case involved more than ₦544 million. This became the figure most frequently associated with the prosecution.
Lawal denied the allegations. He maintained that he had left his private companies before taking public office. He also argued that the project involved clearing invasive aquatic vegetation from waterways rather than mowing ordinary grass around camps for internally displaced people.
The Trial Restarts
The case was initially assigned to Justice Jude Okeke of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory.
Justice Okeke died in August 2020. His death meant that the trial could not continue before him, and the proceedings had to begin again before another judge.
On 30 November 2020, Lawal and the other defendants were re-arraigned before Justice Charles Agbaza. They again pleaded not guilty to the charges and continued to enjoy the bail previously granted by the court.
During the trial, the prosecution presented witnesses and documentary material relating to the companies, contracts, payments and procurement process.
The EFCC also attempted to introduce electronic material connected with information reportedly extracted from a mobile telephone. In January 2022, the court rejected some computer-generated material after ruling that the legal requirements governing its admission had not been satisfied.
The witness presenting the material was not its maker, and the necessary foundation for admitting it as evidence had not been established.
The EFCC eventually called 11 witnesses before closing its case.
The No-Case Submissions and Acquittal
After the prosecution completed its evidence, the defendants filed no-case submissions.
A no-case submission asks a court to end a prosecution because the evidence presented has not established a case requiring the accused person to offer a defence.
The defence lawyers argued that the EFCC had failed to connect the defendants to the offences contained in the charge.
On 18 November 2022, Justice Charles Agbaza upheld the no-case submissions and discharged and acquitted all six defendants.
The judge held that the prosecution had failed to establish the essential ingredients of the offences. The court found that the EFCC had not shown that Lawal was a member of the PINE body that awarded the contracts.
The prosecution had also not demonstrated that he was a member of the ministerial tenders board that considered the contracts or that he participated in the Bureau of Public Procurement’s issuance of a certificate of no objection.
The defendants were therefore not required to call witnesses or present evidence in their defence.
Following the judgment, the EFCC announced that it intended to obtain the ruling, study it and challenge the decision at the Court of Appeal.
The November 2022 decision ended the trial before the FCT High Court and cleared Lawal and the other defendants of the charges before that court.
Babachir Lawal’s Political Life After the Case
The prosecution did not end Lawal’s involvement in Nigerian politics.
During the campaign for the 2023 presidential election, he publicly supported Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party. Lawal later said that he supported Obi without formally joining the Labour Party.
He remained connected to the All Progressives Congress until his resignation in 2025. His resignation letter was dated 29 June 2025 and addressed to the APC chairman in Bangshika Ward, Hong Local Government Area of Adamawa State.
Lawal later became involved in the opposition coalition that adopted the African Democratic Congress as its political platform ahead of the 2027 general election.
On 1 June 2026, he announced his resignation from the ADC following the party’s presidential primary. He alleged that the process had favoured former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.
Days after leaving the ADC, Lawal spoke publicly about the controversy that had led to his removal from Buhari’s government. He described the grass-cutting scandal as a political operation organised by people who considered his relationship with Buhari a threat.
He also defended the river-clearing project and said its popular description had misrepresented the work that was carried out.
The controversy therefore remained part of his political identity almost a decade after his dismissal from office.
Conclusion
The Babachir Lawal grass-cutting case passed through several major stages.
The Senate investigated contracts administered under a programme created to respond to the humanitarian crisis in North-East Nigeria. Its findings raised questions about procurement, contractor selection and the relationship between Lawal and a company connected with the projects.
President Buhari suspended Lawal in April 2017 and established a presidential investigative panel. Following the panel’s report, Buhari terminated his appointment in October 2017.
The EFCC later prosecuted Lawal and five other defendants over transactions valued at more than ₦544 million. After calling 11 witnesses, the commission closed its case.
In November 2022, the FCT High Court upheld the defendants’ no-case submissions and discharged and acquitted them. The court ruled that the prosecution had not produced sufficient evidence connecting them to the offences charged.
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Lawal lost one of the most powerful offices in the federal government, but he was not convicted or sentenced to imprisonment in the grass-cutting case. He remained politically active after the trial and continued to offer his own account of the controversy.
Author’s Note
The Babachir Lawal grass-cutting case shows how decisions made during a national emergency can shape public confidence in government for years. It also demonstrates the lasting political power of a memorable phrase, as the term “grass cutting” came to represent a much broader dispute involving procurement, humanitarian spending, public office and criminal prosecution. The case remains an important chapter in the history of the Buhari administration and Nigeria’s continuing debate over accountability in public service.
References
The State House, Abuja. “President Buhari Terminates Appointment of Babachir Lawal.” 30 October 2017.
Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation. “Press Statement on the Work of the Presidential Investigative Panel.” April 2017.
Senate Ad Hoc Committee on the Mounting Humanitarian Crisis in the North-East. Interim report on the Presidential Initiative on the North East, December 2016.
Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre. “Senate Calls for Resignation and Prosecution of SGF Babachir David Lawal.” December 2016.
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Charges filed against Babachir Lawal, Rholavision Engineering Limited, Josmon Technologies Limited and other defendants.
Channels Television. “Alleged ₦544m Fraud: Court Discharges, Acquits Ex-SGF, Babachir Lawal.” 18 November 2022.
The Guardian Nigeria. “Alleged ₦544m Grass-Cutting Scandal: Court Acquits Ex-SGF Lawal, Others.” 19 November 2022.
TheCable. “₦544m Fraud: EFCC to Appeal Court Ruling Dismissing Case Against Babachir Lawal.” 18 November 2022.
The Guardian Nigeria. “Babachir Lawal Resigns from APC, Cites Future Political Plans.” July 2025.
Channels Television. “Ex-SGF Babachir Lawal Leaves ADC, Alleges Irregularities in Party Primaries.” 1 June 2026.
