A Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin has admitted fresh exhibits in the ongoing N5.78bn corruption trial involving a former governor of the state, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, and his former Commissioner for Finance, Alhaji Ademola Banu.
The defendants are being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over alleged diversion of public funds, including Universal Basic Education Commission matching grants and counterpart funds meant for the provision of infrastructure in primary and junior secondary schools across Kwara State.
At the resumed hearing on Thursday before Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar, the sixth prosecution witness, Ujilibo, told the court that the EFCC obtained bank statements of the Kwara State Government from Polaris Bank and Guaranty Trust Bank. He said the statements covered loans secured to pay teachers’ salaries under the State Universal Basic Education Board.
“My Lord, we wrote to the then Skye Bank, now Polaris Bank, and Guaranty Trust Bank requesting statements of SUBEB accounts and matching grants for 2013 and 2014,” the witness said.
Ujilibo added that the banks supplied all the requested documents, which were tendered through him and admitted by the court as exhibits.
Proceedings, however, witnessed a brief setback following an argument between the prosecution and the defence over the organisation of the documents admitted in evidence.
Defence counsel, Mr Kamaldeen Ajibade (SAN), told the court that the bundle of documents presented differed from what had earlier been served on the defence. He argued that the exhibits were neither paginated nor properly arranged, describing the situation as unacceptable in a criminal trial.
“The defence must be given adequate opportunity to study the evidence before the court,” Ajibade said.
Responding, prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), insisted that the documents tendered were the same as those served on the defence. He added that it was not the duty of the prosecution to arrange the exhibits on behalf of the defence.
After listening to both sides, Justice Abdulgafar adjourned the matter to February 16, 2026, to allow for proper arrangement of the exhibits and continuation of trial.
The EFCC alleges that Ahmed and Banu approved the use of UBEC matching grant funds to pay civil servants’ salaries, contrary to the conditions attached to the release of the funds.
At an earlier hearing, a former Kwara State Accountant General, Suleiman Oluwadare Ishola, had testified that N1bn from UBEC matching grants was borrowed in 2015 to pay salaries and pensions.
