A key prosecution witness in the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) case against former Kwara State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, and ex-Commissioner for Finance, Demola Banu, has exonerated both officials from allegations of diverting N5.78 billion in Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) matching grants between 2013 and 2019.
Testifying before Justice Mahmood Abdulgafar of the Kwara State High Court, the witness, Abubakar Hassan, an Assistant Director of Finance at UBEC headquarters in Abuja, clarified that neither Ahmed nor Banu had direct control over the funds in question.
During cross-examination by the defense counsel, Kamaldeen Ajibade and Gboyega Oyewole, Hassan stated that both defendants were not signatories to the Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (KWSUBEB) account. He emphasized that SUBEB operates as an autonomous agency, separate from the state government, and that governors are not allowed to be board members.
“Ex-Governor Ahmed was not a member of SUBEB, nor was he a signatory to its account. UBEC pays matching grants directly into the states’ SUBEB accounts, not the state government’s,” Hassan explained.
He further testified that UBEC retrieved N1.8 billion in matching grants meant for 2013 and 2014, following the state SUBEB’s failure to pay its counterpart funds.
However, under questioning from EFCC counsel Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, Hassan also stated that 51 projects under the 2013 UBEC action plan were abandoned due to lack of funds. He claimed that UBEC’s project monitoring committee found many projects unexecuted or left incomplete despite approvals.
“We wrote to then-Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed in May 2018, asking for an explanation regarding these abandoned projects, but we received no response,” Hassan said.
Following the testimony, Justice Mahmood Abdulgafar adjourned the case to March 12 and 13, 2025, for the continuation of the trial.
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