By Ken Afor
Kwara State’s former Governor, Abdulfattah Ahmed, was arraigned on Friday at the Federal High Court in Ilorin, the state capital, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over an alleged N10 billion fraud.
The former governor, facing 12 counts of charges, was accused by the anti-graft agency of squandering the sum of N1,610,730,500 meant for security and running costs in the state to charter private jets during his tenure.
In a statement released on Thursday, the EFCC disclosed that in one of the counts, the former governor allegedly embezzled N400 million of the N1 billion short-term loan received by Kwara State Government, facilitated by Ecobank Nigeria Limited, to execute projects during his tenure.
According to the EFCC, “Ahmed (while being the Governor of Kwara State) between 2015 and 2019 in Ilorin within the jurisdiction of this honourable court used an aggregate sum of N1,610,730,500, property of Kwara State Government, meant for the security and running cost of the Government of Kwara State, to charter private jets through Travel Messengers Limited on different occasions for your local travels and which sum you reasonably ought to have known formed part of the proceeds of your unlawful act, to wit: criminal breach of trust or theft.”
It would be recalled that prior to his eight-year tenure between 2011 and 2019, the former governor served as the Commissioner of Finance under Dr. Bukola Saraki.
