Witness Testifies Against Ex-Gov Abdulfatah Ahmed In N5.78b Fraud Case, Trial Adjourned Until February 17
A prosecution witness, Mr Abubakar Hassan, on Wednesday accused former governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara state of misusing N5billion UBEC funds while serving as chief executive of the State of Harmony.
The former governor and Hon Demola Banu, who served as Commissioner for Finance during his administration, were among other things accused of conspiring to convert to personal use, funds meant for the payment of salary to teachers under the Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board, UBEC, as well as the funds meant for enhancing security of lives and property and provision of infrastructure projects for the people of the state.
Recall that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) , had in February this year filed charges against the former governor and the former Commissioner for Finance over offences bordering on alleged money laundering.
A definitive decision had not been taken on this at the Federal High Court, Ilorin before the anti-graft agency discontinued the case a few weeks ago and got them re-arraigned in October and this time around, EFCC opted for the state High Court.
Alhaji Ahmed and Hon Banu however pleaded not guilty to charges contained in the charging document while Justice Mahmood Abdulgafar, who presided over the court session, later set the former governor’s bail at N 100 million ditto the former commissioner while adding that one of their sureties must also be a serving or retired Permanent Secretary.
Team@orientactualmags.com learned that the former governor and Hon Banu returned to court on Wednesday and the EFCC presented its first witness, PW1, Abubakar Hassan, an assistant director of finance, Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC, who testified against the defendants.
While being led in evidence by counsel for the EFCC, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, Hassan told the court that N5 billion meant for execution of projects at primary and junior secondary schools in the state between 2013 and 2015, were misused on Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed’s watch.
‘The Matching Grant Funds from the Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC, is meant to provide certain infrastructural facilities for students at primary and junior secondary schools.
Such facilities include the construction of primary schools, provision of laboratories for the students, construction of toilets, provision of water and sanitation and cultural education’ he said.
Hassan added that UBEC which was established in 2004, has ensuring that no Nigerian child is denied basic education as its main goal and objective noting that basic education starts from primary school to junior secondary school.
Stating the procedures for obtaining grants from the Commission, the witness said, ‘UBEC law provides that the Chairman of State Universal Basic Education Board, its Executive Secretary and the Director of Finance are signatories to matching grants accounts.
The matching grants account is opened with any commercial bank or the Central Bank of Nigeria’.
He however added that the state has to prepare action plans, budgets, defend the projects, and get approval before it can access grants from UBEC.
Testifying further, the PW1 said the Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB, prepared and submitted an action plan for 2013 which was defended, and an approval was given to execute certain contracts in compliance with the action plan.
‘The Commission made lodgment for 2013, 2014 and 2015. Kwara State got Matching Grant of about N2billion (Two Billion Naira Only) for 2013, N876million (Eight Hundred and Seventy-Six Million Naira Only) was released for 2014 while they got N982million (Nine Hundred and Eighty-Two Million Naira Only in 2015, totaling about N5billion.
Implementation of 2013 Action Plan had already commenced, contractors were already been mobilized to work at the site but surprisingly, during our project monitoring exercise we discovered that the monies meant for the project (2013) had been diverted by the Kwara SUBEB. We discovered that about N2 billion naira was diverted’ he alleged.
Hassan added that following this discovery, the report of the project monitoring committee was sent to the Kwara SUBEB, asking them to comply with recommendations of the committee, but there was no response while the Commission wrote to the banks and asked that the 2014 and 2015 funds paid to the state should be refunded.
He also disclosed that there were no activities for 2016, 2017, and 2018 due to the failure of the state to comply with its earlier recommendations about the diverted funds.
Hassan also submitted that the responsibility of utilizing UBEC grants rests solely on SUBEB while the state governor or anyone outside SUBEB has no dealing, directly or indirectly, in respect of the utilization of the funds made available to the agency.
Further hearing in the case has been adjourned until February 17, 2025-Team@orientactualmags.com Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08059100286, 09094171980 or get in touch via orientactualmag@gmail.com. Thank you
