Dr Musa Dasuki Oladimeji, the second witness in the alleged diversion of N5.78 billion case against former Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed and his Finance Commissioner, Ademola Banu, told a Kwara State High Court in Ilorin on Wednesday that the state government used matching grants from the State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB, to pay workers’ salaries between 2013 and 2016.
Dr Musa Dasuki, a retired Permanent Secretary and Head of Administration in SUBEB, Kwara State, and a witness for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, testified in court that the state government paid over N1 billion in 2013, N952 million, N869 million, and N973 million in 2015 and 2016, respectively, as its matching grants to the designated Skye Bank account.
However, he informed the trial judge, Justice Mahmood Abdulgafar, at the resumed hearing of the case that the state government retrieved its matching grants in the form of a loan during the period to pay workers’ salaries.
Former Kwara State Governor AbdulFatah Ahmed and his Finance Commissioner, Ademola Banu, were present in court for the resumed hearing.
The Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the EFCC had dragged the duo to court, accusing them of misappropriating Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC, matching grants amounting to N5.78 billion between 2013 and 2019.
However, both defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Dr Dasuki stated that the state government paid its 50 per cent counterpart funds to SUBEB between 2013 and 2016 without default, while the Universal Basic Education Board headquarters in Abuja also fulfilled its obligation by paying its 50 per cent share of the counterpart funding as stipulated by law.
The witness, who is also a suspect in the case, told the court during cross-examination by the counsel for the former governor, Jimoh Mumuni, SAN, that ex-Governor Ahmed and Mr Banu were neither signatories to SUBEB’s account nor board members.
“The loan was not granted to the then Governor Ahmed, his Finance Commissioner, or the Government House. Though, to the best of my knowledge, the loan was not repaid, it was essentially granted to pay workers’ salaries.
“SUBEB has a board. I was a member as a Permanent Secretary and the accounting officer of the board. The two of them, the ex-governor and the Finance Commissioner, were not members of the board. They cannot be members by virtue of the law establishing the board.”
Earlier, when examined by EFCC counsel Rotimi Jacobs, the retired Permanent Secretary said that the short-term loans granted by SUBEB to the state government during those years hampered the execution of designated action plan projects.
The projects included the provision of infrastructure facilities for both primary and junior secondary schools in the state.
He said: “When the state government requested the N1 billion loan to pay workers’ salaries, we did not initially agree. However, after receiving assurance of repayment upon receipt of statutory allocation from FAAC in Abuja, we agreed.
“The Executive Chairman of SUBEB at the time, Mr Lanre Daibu, demanded a written letter to formalise the deal, and a letter was subsequently written from the state Finance Commissioner’s office to that effect. Afterwards, we transferred the funds to the state government’s account. The same process applied in the succeeding years.
“In 2016, although 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 utilised.”
The ex-governor’s defence counsel put it to the witness that the monies were repaid, but the SUBEB accounting officer responded with a resounding no.