The Kwara State High Court in Ilorin heard Tuesday how the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) launched a probe of former Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed and uncovered N5.78 billion diverted during his administration.
Seventh prosecution witness Stanley Ujilibo, who is an EFCC detective, shared insights into the probe at a hearing in the ongoing trial of the former governor and his co-defendant.
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A statement by the EFCC on Tuesday said the commission is prosecuting Mr Ahmed, who was Kwara State governor between 2011 and 2019, and his former Finance Commissioner, Ademola Banu, on 14 counts of criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of public funds totalling N5.78 billion.
Mr Ujilibo, who is an Assistant Commander with the EFCC and a member of the investigative team, said during Tuesday’s hearing that the commission began its investigation following a petition dated 17 April 2024, from the Kwara State Director of Public Prosecution, Akande Ayoola, on behalf of the Attorney-General of the state.
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According to the witness, the petition alleged diversion of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) funds meant for educational infrastructure across the 16 local government areas of the state.
Led in evidence by EFCC lawyer Rotimi Jacobs, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said the EFCC wrote to UBEC requesting relevant documents.
He said, in response to EFCC’s request, UBEC’s Assistant Director, Hassan Abubakar, supplied project action plans and contractor information for 2013–2015.
The EFCC also invited several officials for questioning, including a former SUBEB chairperson, Lanre Daibu; SUBEB’s former Permanent Secretary, Musa Dasuki; Director of Physical Planning, Abdulsalam Olarewaju; a former Accountant-General of Kwara State, Suleiman Ishola; and former Ministry of Finance Permanent Secretary, Benjamin Fatigun.
Mr Ujilibo added that the commission traced the flow of UBEC funds using bank statements from Polaris and Guaranty Trust Bank, which held SUBEB’s accounts.
He said the defendants were invited, voluntarily made statements in the presence of their lawyers, and those statements were admitted into evidence without objection.
Earlier on Tuesday, the sixth prosecution witness, Mr Ishola, who was the state’s Accountant-General of Kwara State between 2013 and 2019, told the court that, in 2015, the Mr Ahmed administration borrowed N1 billion from the UBEC matching grant to pay civil servant salaries and pensions.
Mr Ishola said the vouchers authorising the borrowing were raised by officials of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).
The witness, also led by prosecution lawyer Mr Jacobs, testified that neither of the two defendants personally authorised the disbursement or directly benefited from the borrowed funds.
Mr Ishola’s testimony corroborated earlier testimony by Mr Daibu, former SUBEB chairman, who said the state government formally approved the use of the funds for salary payments.
Following cross-examinations by defence counsel J.A. Mumini, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and Gboyega Oyewole (SAN), representing Messrs Ahmed and Banu, respectively, Mr Ishola was discharged from the witness box.
Trial judge Mahmud Abdulgafar adjourned further hearing until 16 and 17 October.
Background
The EFCC charged Messrs Ahmed and Banu on 14 counts of criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of public funds totalling N5.78 billion.
The funds, earmarked for basic education under UBEC’s matching grant scheme, were allegedly diverted during Mr Ahmed’s tenure as governor from 2011 to 2019.
In October 2024, the two men were re-arraigned before Mr Abdulgafar following the transfer of the former trial judge, Evelyn Anyadike.
They pleaded not guilty to all counts.
Among other allegations, the EFCC accused them of illegally spending N1 billion from SUBEB’s UBEC matching grant account in January 2015 to pay civil servant salaries — funds that were meant for 2013 education projects.
Another charge accused them of transferring nearly N1 billion from the same account in 2016 to repay loans, contrary to the UBEC Act and the state’s action plan.
Mr Abdulgafar granted them bail in the sum of N100 million each, with two sureties — one of whom must be a serving or retired permanent secretary.
Key witness testimonies
In December 2024, Abubakar Hassan, UBEC’s Assistant Director of Finance, testified that Mr Ahmed’s administration diverted funds meant for 51 educational projects.
He said many were unexecuted or abandoned.
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In February, Mr Hassan told the court that Kwara SUBEB illegally withdrew N1.8 billion from UBEC funds in February 2016, and that the funds were used for salaries instead of infrastructure projects.
He said UBEC had to step in to loan N1 billion to cover staff costs.
In March, another witness, Musa Dasuki, a former SUBEB Permanent Secretary, testified that the state government requested use of the 2013 UBEC grant to pay teachers, promising to repay the funds.
Mr Dasuki said repayment never happened, leading to abandoned classrooms, toilets, and ICT centres across all 16 LGAs.
Following their arrangements, EFCC maintains that the accused violated the UBEC Act and the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act by misapplying education funds for unauthorised purposes.
It said the infractions undermined UBEC’s objectives of providing universal access to basic education.
