By Muyideen Aliyu, llorin
The Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday presented additional witnesses in the trial of former Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed and his ex-Commissioner for Finance, Ademola Banu, over an alleged ₦5.78 billion fraud.
At the resumed hearing before Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar of the Kwara State High Court, the sixth prosecution witness testified that vouchers for a ₦1 billion loan were prepared by officials of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).
The witness, Suleiman Oluwadare Ishola, who served as Kwara State Accountant-General between 2013 and 2019, stated that the ₦1 billion matching grant from the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) was borrowed by the Ahmed administration in 2015 to pay civil servants and pensioners. He added that neither Ahmed nor Banu authorised the vouchers or received direct payments from the funds.
Ishola’s testimony aligned with that of Barrister Lanre Daibu, former SUBEB Chairman, who earlier confirmed receiving formal state government approval to use the UBEC matching grant for salary payments.
Following cross-examination by defence counsel J.A. Mumini (SAN) and Gboyega Oyewole (SAN), representing Ahmed and Banu respectively, Ishola was excused from the witness box.
The prosecution then called its seventh witness, Stanley Ujilibo, an Assistant Commander of the EFCC and a member of the investigative team.
Under the guidance of Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), Ujilibo detailed the investigation that led to the defendants’ prosecution. He testified that the EFCC acted on a petition dated 17 April 2024, submitted by the Director of Public Prosecution, Kwara State, Akande Idowu Ayoola, on behalf of the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice. The petition alleged the diversion of UBEC funds intended for educational infrastructure across the state’s 16 local government areas.
To aid the inquiry, the EFCC requested documents and personnel from UBEC. In response, Hassan Abubakar, an Assistant Director at UBEC, supplied action plans for the 2013–2015 fiscal years, listing contractors and project costs.
Ujilibo explained that states must provide a 50 per cent counterpart contribution to access UBEC matching grants and defend their proposals before a UBEC committee prior to fund disbursement.
He added that the EFCC interviewed key officials, including Lanre Daibu, SUBEB Director of Physical Planning Engr. Abdulsalam Olarewaju, former SUBEB Permanent Secretary Dr. Musa Dasuki, Accountant-General Ishola, and then Ministry of Finance Permanent Secretary Benjamin Fatigun, all of whom gave voluntary statements.
The witness also stated that the EFCC obtained financial records from Polaris Bank and Guaranty Trust Bank, which managed SUBEB accounts, to track the disbursement and utilisation of UBEC funds.
He confirmed that both defendants were invited by the EFCC and made statements in the presence of their lawyers without coercion. Their extra-judicial statements were admitted as exhibits with no objections from the defence.
Further hearing has been scheduled for 16 and 17 October 2025.