EFCC witness clears former Kwara Governor of direct receipt in N5.78 bn SUBEB case

By Demola Akinyemi, Ilorin

In a hearing at the Ilorin High Court, EFCC investigator Stanley Ujilibo testified that former Kwara State Governor Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed did not receive any portion of the N5.78 billion State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) funds that are under investigation.

Ujilibo appeared as the sixth prosecution witness (PW6) on Wednesday during the trial of Ahmed and his former Commissioner for Finance and Economic Planning, Alhaji Demola Nurudeen Banu, who are accused of diverting SUBEB money.

The investigator clarified that neither Ahmed nor the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) were signatories to the Kwara SUBEB account. He added that Ahmed had approved a request for a N1 billion loan from the state’s SUBEB counterpart fund, which was reportedly used to pay workers’ salaries. According to Ujilibo, the loan request came from the second defendant, then Commissioner for Finance, and was not aligned with the original purpose of the SUBEB fund.

Ujilibo also explained that the EFCC did not probe Ahmed’s personal accounts because the petition received by the commission did not directly link him to the movement of the funds.

He noted that none of the accounting officers of the Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board are on trial; they are appearing as witnesses instead.

During the session, counsel for the first defendant, Senior Advocate of Nigeria AbdullRazaq Gold, sought an adjournment to obtain the defendant’s statements to the EFCC and his asset declaration forms for use in cross‑examination. EFCC counsel Adebisi Adeniyi opposed the request, arguing that the defence had had ample time since 2024 to request the documents.

Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar of the Kwara State High Court denied the adjournment but allowed the defence counsel to recall the witness for further cross‑examination. The cross‑examination was brief before the matter was adjourned to July 27 for the continuation of the trial.

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