A Kwara State High Court in Ilorin on Thursday adjourned proceedings until February 16, 2026, in the trial over the alleged diversion of ₦5.78bn involving former governor Abdulfatah Ahmed and his former Commissioner for Finance, Ademola Banu.
The former officials are standing trial on charges of financial misconduct brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over actions taken during Ahmed’s administration.
At the resumed hearing before Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar, the sixth prosecution witness, Ujilibo, told the court that as part of its investigation, the EFCC obtained bank statements relating to loans allegedly secured by the Kwara State Government to pay teachers’ salaries under the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).
While being led in evidence by prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, the witness explained that the commission requested statements of accounts connected to SUBEB funds and Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) matching grants. The documents were later tendered and admitted as exhibits.
Proceedings, however, were disrupted following a disagreement between Jacobs and defence counsel, Kamaldeen Ajibade (SAN), over the organisation of the documents served on the defence and presented in court.
Ajibade contended that the documents before the court differed from those earlier served on the defence, adding that they were neither properly arranged nor paginated, making it difficult for the defendants to respond adequately. Jacobs rejected the claim, maintaining that the same documents had been served and that arranging them was not the prosecution’s responsibility.
The dispute led the court to halt proceedings to allow the parties to properly organise the documents. In his ruling, Justice Abdulgafar adjourned the case to February 16, 2026, noting that the adjournment was necessitated by the improper arrangement of the documents.
Speaking after the session, Ajibade described the situation as unacceptable in a criminal trial, stressing that the prosecution ought to have prepared and served a clear proof of evidence.
“This is a criminal matter where the prosecution should not ambush the defence. The documents served were not properly highlighted to enable us determine whether to object or not. The court has now directed that the right thing be done,” he said.
On his part, Jacobs insisted that the EFCC had fulfilled its obligations, explaining that while the documents were served, the defence complained they were not paginated or arranged chronologically.
“Our duty is to serve the documents, not to organise them for the defence. However, they insisted the documents must be numbered and orderly to follow the proceedings,” he said.
The EFCC alleged that Ahmed and Banu authorised the use of UBEC matching grants to pay salaries of civil servants, contrary to the purpose for which the funds were released.
In an earlier hearing, a former Accountant-General of the state, Suleiman Ishola, testified that ₦1bn from the UBEC matching grants was borrowed in 2015 to settle salaries of civil servants and pensioners.
