The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Tuesday presented additional witnesses in the ongoing trial of former Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed.
At the resumed hearing before Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar of the Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin, the sixth prosecution witness told the court that officials of the Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) raised the vouchers used to borrow N1 billion.
The witness, Suleiman Ishola, who served as Kwara State Accountant General from 2013 to 2019, had earlier testified on Friday, April 11, 2025, that the N1 billion was a matching grant from UBEC borrowed by the Ahmed administration in 2015 to pay salaries of civil servants and pensioners.
Ishola clarified that neither of the defendants authorised the vouchers nor received direct disbursements from the borrowed funds.
His account aligned with the earlier testimony of former SUBEB Chairman, Barrister Lanre Daibu, who confirmed that formal approval had been granted by the state government to access the UBEC matching grant for salary payments.
Following cross-examination by the defence counsels — J.A. Mumini (SAN), representing Ahmed, and Gboyega Oyewole (SAN), representing Banu — Ishola was discharged from the witness box.
The prosecution then called its seventh witness (PW7), Stanley Ujilibo, an Assistant Commander of the EFCC and a member of the investigation team.
Led in evidence by Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), Ujilibo detailed the investigation that led to the prosecution of the defendants.
He informed the court that the EFCC received a petition dated April 17, 2024, from the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) of Kwara State, Akande Idowu Ayoola, on behalf of the state’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice.
The petition, according to Ujilibo, alleged diversion of UBEC funds meant for educational infrastructure in the 16 local government areas of the state.
In response, the EFCC contacted UBEC and requested documents and designated personnel to aid the investigation.
“In response, Hassan Abubakar, an Assistant Director at UBEC, submitted action plans covering the 2013 to 2015 fiscal years, listing contractors and project costs,” he said.
Ujilibo explained that states were required to pay 50% counterpart funding to access UBEC matching grants, and that all project proposals had to be defended before a UBEC committee prior to fund disbursement.
He further testified that several officials, including Lanre Daibu, SUBEB Director of Physical Planning, Engr. Abdulsalam Olarewaju; former SUBEB Permanent Secretary, Dr. Musa Dasuki; Accountant General Ishola, and the then Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Mr. Benjamin Fatigun, were invited and all gave voluntary statements.
The EFCC also obtained financial records from Polaris Bank and Guaranty Trust Bank, which managed SUBEB accounts, to trace how the UBEC funds were applied.
Ujilibo added that both defendants were invited by the EFCC and voluntarily made statements in the presence of their lawyers, without coercion.
The court admitted their extra-judicial statements as exhibits after the defence raised no objections.
Further hearing in the case has been adjourned to October 16 and 17, 2025.
