A prosecution witness on Thursday told the Kwara State High Court in Ilorin that former Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, approved the diversion of N1 billion from the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Matching Grant to pay salaries and pensions in 2015—funds that were never repaid.
The testimony came during Ahmed’s ongoing trial for alleged misappropriation of N5.78 billion UBEC funds. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is prosecuting the former governor on 14-count charges related to fraud and diversion of public funds.
Lanre Daibu, the fourth prosecution witness and former Chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), said the then Commissioner for Finance, Ademola Banu, initially made the request for the loan over the phone.
“I insisted on a formal letter,” Daibu said while being led in evidence by EFCC counsel, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN). “Though they promised to repay the loan within one or two months, the N1bn was never refunded until the board was dissolved.”
He added that an official letter from the Ministry of Finance, bearing the governor’s endorsement, was later provided — marked in court as Exhibit 4.
Daibu further stressed that UBEC funds were statutorily earmarked for improving basic education infrastructure, not for salary payments.
The fifth prosecution witness, Benjamin Fatigun, a retired Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, corroborated Daibu’s statement. He confirmed that the governor approved the transaction after the ministry informed him of the state’s inability to meet salary obligations.
“There was an official letter from the Ministry of Finance to the governor detailing the state’s inability to pay salaries,” Fatigun testified. “The letter suggested borrowing from SUBEB, and the governor gave the go-ahead. The fund was then transferred to the salary account.”
Both witnesses were cross-examined by defence counsels Kamaldeen Ajibade (SAN) and Gboyega Oyewole (SAN).
The presiding judge, Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar, adjourned the case to Friday, April 11, 2025, for continuation of trial.