The trial of former Kwara State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, and his former Commissioner for Finance, Ademola Banu, resumed on Thursday at the Kwara State High Court in Ilorin, with the testimony of a prosecution witness from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The defendants are being prosecuted by the EFCC’s Ilorin Zonal Directorate over alleged fraud involving ₦5.78 billion.
Testifying before Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar, the sixth prosecution witness, Stanley Ujilibo, told the court that the EFCC obtained bank statements of the Kwara State Government from Polaris Bank and Guaranty Trust Bank as part of its investigation.
Led in evidence by EFCC counsel, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), Ujilibo said letters dated August 1, 2025, were written to the managing directors of the banks—then Skye Bank, now Polaris Bank, and GTBank—requesting statements of the state government’s accounts.
“My Lord, we wrote to the then Skye Bank, now Polaris Bank, and Guaranty Trust Bank to request the statements of accounts of the Kwara State Government,” the witness said, adding that the banks acknowledged the requests and supplied the documents, which were admitted in evidence.
The EFCC alleges that Ahmed and Banu approved the diversion of Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) matching grant funds to pay salaries of civil servants, contrary to the purpose for which the funds were released. The grants were meant to support basic education infrastructure across the state’s 16 local government areas.
At an earlier sitting, a former Accountant-General of Kwara State, Suleiman Oluwadare Ishola, testified that the Ahmed administration in 2015 borrowed ₦1 billion from UBEC matching grants to pay salaries and pensions.
Ujilibo further told the court that the investigation was triggered by a petition from the Kwara State Government, which led to additional correspondence with the Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Accountant-General.
However, when the prosecution attempted to tender responses from the ministry and the accountant-general’s office, defence counsel, led by Kamaldeen Ajibade, objected on procedural grounds. Justice Abdulgafar adjourned the case to February 16, 2025, for further hearing.