The ongoing Abdulfatah Ahmed fraud trial involving the immediate past Governor of Kwara State has taken a new turn as the prosecution presents fresh evidence. A Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin has adjourned the N5.78 billion alleged fraud case against Ahmed and his former Commissioner for Finance, Ademola Banu, to February 16, 2026. The case resumed on Thursday before Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar, with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) calling a key witness to testify.
Ahmed and Banu are facing prosecution by the Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the [Internal Link: Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)] over serious allegations of misappropriating public funds. During the resumed hearing, the prosecution presented its sixth witness, Stanley Ujilibo, who provided crucial details regarding the financial transactions under investigation.
Ujilibo informed the court that the EFCC, during the course of its investigation into the Abdulfatah Ahmed fraud trial, obtained certified bank statements of the Kwara State Government from Polaris Bank (formerly Skye Bank) and Guaranty Trust Bank. Led in evidence by EFCC counsel Rotimi Jacobs, the witness stated that the Commission formally requested these documents via letters dated August 1, 2025.
“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,” Ujilibo told the court. He added that the banks acknowledged the request and supplied the necessary documents, which were subsequently tendered and admitted as exhibits in the trial.
The EFCC alleges that the defendants approved the diversion of Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) matching grant funds to pay the salaries of civil servants, which is contrary to the statutory purpose of the funds. The Commission maintains that the UBEC grants, which constituted 50 percent of the total allocation, were strictly designated for the provision of basic infrastructure in primary and junior secondary schools across the [Internal Link: Kwara State] 16 local government areas.
At a previous sitting, a former Accountant-General of Kwara State, Suleiman Oluwadare Ishola, testified that N1 billion in UBEC funds was borrowed by the administration in 2015 to settle salaries of civil servants and pensioners. This testimony remains a central focus of the Abdulfatah Ahmed fraud trial.
During Thursday’s proceedings, the prosecution sought to tender responses from the Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Accountant-General. However, the defense counsel, led by Kamaldeen Ajibade, objected to the admissibility of the documents, arguing that they had not been properly highlighted for ease of reference. Consequently, Justice Abdulgafar adjourned the matter to February 16, 2026, for the continuation of the trial.
Be the first to comment