Witness: How Ahmed, ex-Kwara governor, ‘misappropriated N5bn UBEC fund’

A witness of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has told a state high court how the Kwara government under Abdulfatah Ahmed, former governor of the state, misappropriated over N5 billion education funds.

Abubakar Hassan, an assistant director of finance at the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), was presented as the first prosecution witness at the resumed hearing of the case on Wednesday.

Led in evidence by Rotimi Jacobs, counsel to the EFCC, Hassan told the court that the Kwara state government allegedly misappropriated about N5 billion meant to execute projects at primary and junior secondary schools between 2013 and 2015 when Ahmed was governor.

“The matching grant funds from the Universal Basic Education Commission is meant to provide certain infrastructural facilities for both students of primary and junior secondary schools,” he said.

“Such facilities include the construction of buildings for primary schools, provision of laboratories for students, construction of toilets, provision of water and sanitation, and cultural education.”

Stating the procedures for obtaining grants from the commission, the witness said: “UBEC law provides that the chairman of the 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 added that the state has to prepare action plans (budgets), defend the projects, and get approval before it can access grants from UBEC.

The witness stated that the Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) prepared and submitted an action plan for 2013.

He added that the action plan was defended, and approval was given to execute certain contracts.

“The commission made lodgment for 2013, 2014, and 2015. Kwara state got a matching grant of about N2 billion for 2013; N876 million was released for 2014, while they got N982 million in 2015, totaling about N5 billion,” he said.

“Implementation of the 2013 action plan had already commenced; contractors were already being mobilised 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 was diverted.”

Hassan said the report of the projects’ monitoring committee was sent to the Kwara SUBEB, asking the board to comply with the recommendations.

He noted that while there was no response, the commission wrote to the banks to return the 2014 and 2015 funds paid to the state.

He said there were no activities for 2016, 2017, and 2018 due to the failure of the state to comply with the committee’s earlier recommendations about the diverted funds.

The matter has been adjourned to February 17, 2025, for continuation of the hearing.

Ahmed was re-arraigned alongside Demola Banu, a former commissioner for finance, in October before Mahmood Abdulgafar, the presiding judge, on a 14-count charge bordering on alleged stealing and mismanagement of public funds to the tune of N5.78 billion.

The former governor and his finance commissioner were accused of conspiring to steal money meant to pay salaries of teachers working with the Kwara SUBEB and also to provide security and other infrastructural facilities for the people of the state, among others.

The duo pleaded not guilty to their respective charges when they were read to them.