SUNTV Global Channel | January 9, 2026
A Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin has adjourned the ₦5.78 billion alleged fraud trial involving former Governor of Kwara State, Abdulfatah Ahmed, and his former Commissioner for Finance, Ademola Banu, to February 16, 2026.
The case, prosecuted by the Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), resumed on Thursday, January 8, before Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar, with the Commission presenting another key witness.
Testifying as the sixth prosecution witness, Stanley Ujilibo, an EFCC investigator, told the court that the anti-graft agency obtained bank statements of the Kwara State Government during the course of its investigation.
Led in evidence by EFCC counsel, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), Ujilibo disclosed that letters dated August 1, 2025, were written to the Managing Directors of Skye Bank (now Polaris Bank) and Guaranty Trust Bank (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, requesting statements of accounts belonging to the Kwara State Government,” the witness said.
He added that the banks acknowledged the requests and subsequently supplied the documents, which were tendered in court and admitted as exhibits.
The EFCC alleged that Ahmed and Banu approved the diversion of Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) matching grant funds to pay civil servants’ salaries, an action the Commission said was contrary to the purpose for which the funds were released.
According to the prosecution, the UBEC grants and counterpart funds — representing 50 per cent of the total allocation — were meant strictly for the provision of basic educational infrastructure in primary and junior secondary schools across the 16 local government areas of Kwara State.
At an earlier hearing, a former Accountant-General of Kwara State, Suleiman Oluwadare Ishola, who served between 2013 and 2019, testified that ₦1 billion from UBEC matching grants was borrowed by the Ahmed administration in 2015 to pay salaries of civil servants and pensioners.
Ujilibo further told the court that the EFCC’s investigation was triggered by a petition from the Kwara State Government, which led to further correspondence with the Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Accountant-General.
However, when the prosecution attempted to tender responses from the two offices, defence counsel led by Kamaldeen Ajibade (SAN) objected, arguing that the documents were not properly highlighted to aid easy reference.
After listening to arguments from both sides, Justice Abdulgafar upheld the objection and adjourned the case to February 16, 2026, for continuation of trial.
— Reporting by SUNTV Global Channel
