The trial of former Kwara State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, and his Commissioner for Finance, Ademola Banu, over the alleged diversion of ₦5.78 billion in Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) funds resumed on Monday before Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar of the Kwara State High Court in Ilorin.
Testifying as the sixth prosecution witness, an investigator with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Stanley Ujilibo, told the court that funds released to the Kwara State Government between 2013 and 2015 were not utilised in accordance with action plans submitted by the Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).
The defendants are being prosecuted by the Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the anti-graft agency for allegedly diverting part of the ₦5.78 billion UBEC matching grants meant to support basic education in the state.
Led in evidence by prosecuting counsel Adebisi Adeniyi, Ujilibo said SUBEB had prepared detailed action plans outlining projects aimed at improving primary and junior secondary schools across the state’s 16 local government areas. He explained that the board, having provided evidence of counterpart funding, sought to persuade the Federal Government through UBEC to release the matching grants.
According to the witness, a delegation of SUBEB officials—including the chairman, director of finance and accounts, project manager and other top management staff—travelled to Abuja to defend the 2013, 2014 and 2015 action plans, highlighting what he described as the deplorable condition of primary and junior secondary education in the state.
However, Ujilibo told the court that investigations revealed the UBEC matching grants were transferred from designated accounts into the Kwara State Government’s central account domiciled in a commercial bank.
He stated that part of the funds was expended on projects such as the reconstruction of Omosebi Bridge, Coca-Cola Road Bridge, Michael Imodu/Afon Junction Road, Lafiaji Township Road, and the rehabilitation of the Ilorin water supply network. The witness maintained that these projects bore no direct connection to basic education.
The court also heard that ₦952,297,227.30, representing the 2014 UBEC allocation, was used to liquidate a loan principal. Ujilibo further alleged that a request purportedly signed by the second defendant sought approval to obtain a ₦1 billion loan from SUBEB counterpart funds to augment the payment of workers’ salaries.
According to the prosecution witness, funds intended to improve infrastructure and learning conditions in primary and junior secondary schools were ultimately deployed for purposes outside their statutory mandate and without direct benefit to pupils.
Following the prosecution’s examination-in-chief, Justice Abdulgafar adjourned the case until April 20, 2026, for cross-examination of the witness.
