An investigator with the Ilorin zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Stanley Ujilibo, in the trial of former governor of Kwara State, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, over alleged diversion of N5.78 billion of State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) funds, yesterday told a state high court sitting in Ilorin that no money was directly released to the former governor.
He also said neither the former governor nor the Universal Basic Education Board (UBEC) were signatories to the KWSUBEB account.
Former governor Ahmed and his ex-Commissioner for Finance, Alhaji Demola Banu, have been standing trial over alleged diversion of over N5 billion SUBEB funds in the state.
However, Ujilibo, who is also the sixth prosecution witness (PW6) and a member of the EFCC detective team, made the disclosure under cross-examination by counsel to the first defendant, Mr. Abdulrasaq Gold (SAN), during the continuation of trial.
He, however, said the former governor gave approval for a request to secure a N1 billion loan from the state’s counterpart fund of SUBEB for payment of workers’ salaries.
The approval, he explained, was granted following a request by the second defendant, who was the former governor’s erstwhile Commissioner for Finance, Alhaji Demola Banu, for the loan to pay workers’ salaries, which according to him, was contrary to the original purposes for which the SUBEB fund was meant.
Ujilibo also said the commission did not beam its searchlight on the former governor’s personal account because the petition before the commission did not link the diverted fund to his personal account.
He disclosed further that none of the accounting officers of the Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) is standing trial before the court over the matter, saying they are “witnesses”.
While in the middle of the cross-examination, counsel to the first defendant made an application for an adjournment of the trial to enable him request for the statement made by the first defendant before the EFCC in Abuja and asset declaration forms which he had filled, to enable him cross-examine the PW6 on the documents.
His application was, however, opposed by counsel to the EFCC, Mr. Adebisi Adeniyi.
He said the defendant had enough time to do that since the commencement of the trial in 2024.
“My lord, we are constrained to oppose this application. The last time this matter came up before your lordship was on 16th February. It was to come up in April and was adjourned to April 20th and 21st for continuation of trial. The first defendant had enough time to request for any document to cross-examine the witness.”
In his ruling on the application, the presiding judge, Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar, refused the application.
He, however, said the “learned counsel is at liberty to recall the witness for cross-examination.”
The cross-examination continued for a while before the trial was subsequently adjourned to July 27 after counsel to the defendant told the court that he was done.
Hammed Shittu
