A witness for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the case of the alleged diversion of N5.78 billion from the Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (KWSUBEB) against former Kwara State governor Abdulfatah Ahmed and his finance commissioner, Demola Banu, Dr. Musa Dasuki, told a state High Court in Ilorin on Wednesday that the two defendants were neither signatories to SUBEB’s account nor members of its board.
Dr. Dasuki, a veterinary surgeon, told the court at the resumed hearing of the case, during cross-examination by the former governor’s counsel, Mr. Jimoh Mumuni (SAN), that former governor Ahmed and Mr. Banu were neither signatories to SUBEB’s account.
He said, “The loan was not granted to the then governor Ahmed or his commissioner for finance. Though the loan was not repaid to the best of my knowledge, it was essentially granted to pay workers’ salaries.
“The SUBEB has a board. I was a member as a permanent secretary and the accounting officer of the board. The two of them were not members of the board. They cannot be members by virtue of the law establishing the board.”
Dr. Musa Dasuki also told the court that the state retrieved its SUBEB matching grants between 2013 and 2016 to pay workers’ salaries.
The Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the EFCC had dragged the duo to court, accusing them of misappropriating Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) matching grants of N5.78 billion between 2013 and 2019.
However, both defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Dr. Dasuki, a retired permanent secretary from KWSUBEB, said the state paid its 50 percent counterpart funds to SUBEB between 2013 and 2016 without default.
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The state paid over one billion naira in 2013, N952 million in 2014, N869 million in 2015, and N973 million in 2016 as its matching grants to a designated Skye Bank account.
The witness, who is also an EFCC suspect in the case, added that the state government requested the withdrawal of the funds from the Skye Bank designated account as a loan for the payment of workers’ salaries.
Earlier, when examined by EFCC counsel Rotimi Jacobs, the retired permanent secretary said that the short-term loans SUBEB granted to the state government in those years hindered the execution of projects.
The projects were meant to provide infrastructure facilities for both primary and junior secondary schools in the state.
“When the state government requested the N1 billion loan to pay workers’ salaries, we did not initially agree, but after receiving assurances of repayment from the statutory allocation from FAAC in Abuja, we agreed.
“The executive chairman of SUBEB at the time, Mr. Lanre Daibu, demanded a written letter to formalize the deal.
A letter was subsequently written from the state commissioner’s office to that effect. Afterwards, we transferred the funds to the state government’s account. The same process applied to the succeeding years.
“In 2016, though we developed an action plan and both parties—UBEC and the state government—paid their counterpart funds/matching grants, we did not carry out any projects. To the best of my knowledge, we did not receive any communication on how the funds were utilized.”
The ex-governor’s counsel put it to the witness that the monies were repaid, but the SUBEB accounting officer denied it.
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