Former Kwara State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed is in the dock on charges of mismanaging N5bn funds of the Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC.

Assistant Director at UBEC, Hassan Abubakar testified before the Kwara State High Court in Ilorin, alleging that the Kwara State Government misappropriated approximately N5 billion.

The funds, he claimed, were intended for the execution of projects in primary and junior secondary schools between 2013 and 2015 during the tenure of former governor  Ahmed.

Ahmed, along with his then-Commissioner for Finance, Ademola Banu, is currently standing trial for the alleged theft and mismanagement of public funds amounting to N5.78 billion. They are accused of conspiring to embezzle money meant for the payment of salaries of teachers at the Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board , SUBEB. Both men pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were arraigned in October.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Dele Oyewale, the Head of Media and Publicity at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, disclosed that Hassan, who is the first prosecution witness, testified on the alleged misappropriation.

Hassan explained that the Matching Grant Funds from UBEC are intended to provide infrastructure for primary and junior secondary school students. These facilities, he noted, include the construction of primary school buildings, the provision of laboratories, toilets, water, sanitation, and cultural education.

Hassan also detailed the procedures for obtaining grants from UBEC, stating “UBEC law provides that the Chairman of State Universal Basic Education Board, its Executive Secretary, and the Director of Finance are signatories to Matching Grants Accounts. The Matching Grants Account is opened with any commercial bank or the Central Bank of Nigeria.”

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He further explained that the Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB, had submitted an action plan for 2013, which was approved and implemented. “The commission made lodgments for 2013, 2014, and 2015. Kwara State received a Matching Grant of about N2 billion for 2013, N876 million for 2014, and N982 million for 2015, totaling about N5 billion.”

However, Hassan testified that when the 2013 action plan was being implemented, it was discovered during a project monitoring exercise that approximately N2 billion of the funds meant for the project had been diverted. “Contractors had already been mobilized, but surprisingly, we discovered that the funds for the 2013 project had been diverted by Kwara SUBEB,” he stated.

After the discovery, Hassan stated that a report was sent to Kwara SUBEB requesting compliance with the committee’s recommendations, but no response was received.

As a result, the commission instructed the banks to return the funds for 2014 and 2015. He noted that no activities occurred in 2016, 2017, or 2018 due to the state’s inaction regarding the diverted funds.

Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar, the trial judge,  adjourned the case to February 17, 2025, for further hearing.

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