By Abiola Olawale
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has brought another witness before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Maitama over an ongoing lawsuit against the immediate past Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika.
The anti-graft agency brought before the court a former Director of procurement at the Ministry of Aviation, Musa Odiniyan.
Odiniyan, who appeared as the fifth prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of Sirika, Fatima, Jalal, and Al Buraq Global on a six-count charge bordering on corrupt practices, stated that the former Minister approved the award of contracts to a company – Al Buraq Global Investment Limited – in which his daughter, Fatima Hadi Sirika and son-in-law, Jalal Sule Hamma have interests.
According to the witness, for a contract to be executed, the minister must approve.He stated: “The minister is the final approving authority for the award of contract. The minister has to approve the decision of the Ministerial Tender Board for the award of a contract before the contract is implemented.”
When asked about the role of the minister in the award of contracts, the witness said the minister gives the final approval before the implementation of the contracts approved by the Ministerial Tenders Board (MTB).
Odiniyan, who was the Secretary of the MTB of the Aviation Ministry when the contracts in issue were awarded, said he issued the letters of award to the contractors after Sirika gave the final approval.
He said: “The role of the minister includes that, before the award of contract, the minister must approve before you issue letter of the award.
“For the letter of award to be issued, it is the minister that does the final approval.
“There were some projects that the minister did not approve, and letters of award were not issued, and they were not implemented.
“The minister gives the final approval of the award of contracts.The ones he did not approve, we did not proceed to issue letters of award, and the projects were not executed.
“Without approval, you cannot implement. There cannot be implementation without approval.
“The minister approved for implementation of the approval of the MTB,” the witness said.
The New Diplomat reports that Sirika had initially been arraigned for N2.7bn fraud before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja.
He was arraigned on six counts charges alongside his daughter, Fatimah; brother-in-law, Jalal Hamma, and Al-Buraq Investment Ltd.
However, in the amended charge, the anti-graft agency slammed an additional alleged N19 billion fraud against Sirika. The EFCC said the alleged N19 billion fraud is the total sum of Aviation contracts allegedly signed by Sirika and awarded to his younger brother, Abubakar.
In a copy of the fresh charges, the EFCC alleged that Sirika, “while being the Minister of Aviation, on or about 18th August 2022, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of the honorable court, did use his position to confer an unfair advantage upon Enginos Nigeria Limited, whose alter ego, Ahmad Abubakar Sirika, is his biological brother, by using his position to influence the award to him, the contract for the construction of a terminal building at Katsina Airport for the sum of N1,345,586,500.00.”
Sirika was alleged to have violated Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000, and is punishable under the same section.
In another count, the EFCC alleged that “on or about 3rd of November, 2022, in Abuja,” Sirika used his position “to confer unfair advantage upon Enginos Nigeria Limited, whose alter ego, Ahmad Abubakar Sirika, is his biological brother, by using his position to influence the award to him, the contract for the establishment of Fire Truck Maintenance and Refurbishment Centre at Katsina Airport for the sum of N3,811,497,685.00.”
