The Sixth Prosecution Witness, PW6, Suleiman
Oluwadare Ishola in the ongoing trial of the
former governor of Kwara State, Abdulfatah Ahmed, and his former
Commissioner for Finance, Ademola Banu, has corroborated the testimonies of
earlier witnesses that the Ahmed’s administration borrowed the funds
of Kwara State’s Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC to
offset backlog salaries of workers and pensioners in
the state.
Ahmed and Banu are facing prosecution by the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC on amended 14-count
charge, bordering on stealing and mismanagement of UBEC funds in
the state to the tune of N5.78billion.
Testifying on Friday, April 11, 2025, Ishola, who
served as the Accountant-General of Kwara State between 2013 - 2019, told Justice
Mahmud Abdulgafar of the Kwara State High Court, Ilorin that, the sum of
N1billion being a matching grant from UBEC was borrowed by the Abdulfatah
administration in 2015 to pay salaries of civil servants and pensioners.
The testimony aligned with that of the former
Chairman of the Kwara SUBEB, Barrister Lanre Daibu, who had on Thursday, April
10, 2025 disclosed that he received a formal request from the state government
to borrow N1billion from the 2013 UBEC Matching Grant to settle outstanding
salaries and pensions in the state.
Daibu stated that he initially hesitated to approve
the request, knowing that UBEC funds were strictly for projects outlined in its
Action Plan and not to be diverted for any other use. He,
however, disclosed that the request was eventually granted, but
never repaid throughout his tenure
While being led in evidence
by prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, the witness
stated that he received a copy of the letter conveying the governor’s
approval of the loan request.
“At a point, I was copied the letter that the
sum of N1billion has been borrowed from the Kwara State Universal Basic
Education Board, SUBEB. The essence of the loan was to pay salaries of civil
servants and pensioners. I received the letter containing the approval by His
Excellency, the executive governor of Kwara State, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed
from the Honourable Commissioner for Finance, Alhaji Ademola
Banu," he said.
The witness further confirmed that the N1billion
was credited to the state's salary account in Polaris Bank Plc. However, he
said that the amount was insufficient to cover the entire wage bill, prompting
the use of an additional N740 million from existing funds to
meet the salary obligations.
Testifying further, the witness stated that in 2016,
he received a directive from the second defendant to liquidate the loan, and
that the fund was subsequently repaid, as reflected in the state's account
records.
The witness also disclosed
how that he was invited by the EFCC, where he
was presented with vouchers that indicated that another
loan of N850million (Eight Hundred Million Naira) was allegedly taken
by the state government.
The matter was adjourned till June 10 and 11,
2025 for continuation of trial.
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