Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (KWSUBEB
Dr. Musa Dasuki, the principal witness at the ongoing hearing on the alleged diversion of Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (KWSUBEB) funds by former Kwara State governor, AbdulFatah Ahmed, and his finance commissioner, Demola Banu, on Wednesday told the state High Court in Ilorin that the duo were neither signatories to SUBEB’s account nor board members.

The Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the EFCC had dragged the duo to court for the alleged misappropriation of Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) matching grants of N5.78 billion between 2013 and 2019.

At the resumed hearing, the veterinary surgeon (principal witness) told the court during cross-examination by Jimoh Mumuni (SAN), counsel to the former governor, that the controversial unpaid loan was not granted to either the governor or the former commissioner.

“The SUBEB has a board. I was a permanent secretary and the accounting officer of the board. The two of them were not members of the board. They cannot be members by virtue of the law establishing the board,” he defended them.

“The loan was not granted to the then Governor Ahmed nor his Commissioner for Finance. Though the loan was not repaid to the best of my knowledge, it was essentially granted to pay workers’ salaries,” he testified.

The witness noted that the state retrieved its matching grants between 2013 and 2016 to pay workers’ salaries.

Dr. Dasuki, a retired Permanent Secretary (PS) from KWSUBEB, also said the state paid its 50 percent counterpart funds to SUBEB between 2013 and 2016 without default.

According to him, the state paid over N1 billion in 2013, N952 million, N869 million, and N973 million in 2015, 2015, and 2016, respectively, as matching grants to a designated Skye Bank account.

The witness, who is also a suspect in the case, added that the state government requested the withdrawal of the funds from the bank account as a loan to pay workers’ salaries.

Earlier, when examined by EFCC counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, the retired PS said that the short-term loans granted to the state government in those years marred the execution of projects.

The projects were intended to provide infrastructure facilities to both primary and junior secondary schools in the state.

“When the state government requested the N1 billion loan to pay workers’ salaries, we did not initially agree, but having received assurance of repayment after the receipt of statutory allocation from FAAC in Abuja, we agreed.

“The Executive Chairman of SUBEB, then Mr. Lanre Daibu, demanded a written letter to formalize the deal. A letter was subsequently written from the State Commissioner’s office to that effect. Afterwards, we transferred the loan into the state government’s account. The same process applied to the succeeding years.

“In 2016, though 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 project. To the best of my knowledge, we did not get any communication on how the funds were utilized,” he explained.

However, both defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges

The Guardian