N2.7bn fraud case: How ex-minister Hadi Sirika break up aviation contracts amongst members of the family

The Twelfth Prosecution Witness, PW12, Christopher Adekunle Odofin within the trial of the previous Minister of Aviation, Hadi Abubakar Sirika on Tuesday, July 1, 2025 advised the FCT Excessive Court docket, Maitama, Abuja, presided over by Justice S.C Oriji that the defendant used his place as a sitting minister from November 11, 2016 to Might 29, 2023 to separate federal authorities aviation contracts amongst his members of the family.

Hadi Sirika, being the primary defendant, is standing trial alongside his daughter Fatima Hadi Sirika, son in regulation, Hamma Jalal Sule and Al Buraq World Funding Restricted on amended six-count cost, bordering on abuse of workplace and cash laundering to the of N2.7 billion.

Led by prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, the witness, who’s an investigating officer with the Financial and Monetary Crimes Fee, EFCC, disclosed that the contract for the Terminal Constructing and Apron Enlargement was a single contract as designated in Serial No 13 within the Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP’s response to the Federal Ministry of Aviation in a letter dated June 6, 2022.

Nonetheless, the primary defendant, he disclosed, used his affect to separate the contract into two and awarded a component to Enginos Nigeria Restricted at N1.3 billion and the opposite half to Al Buraq World funding Ltd at N1.4 billion.

By awarding the break up contract at N1.3 billion and N1.4 billion, respectively, he was mentioned to have prevented reverting to the BPP and Federal Government Council, FEC for his or her approvals as a result of each contract figures fall inside the threshold of the contract sums he can approve as minister.

Additional investigations, the witness mentioned, confirmed that Enginos Nigeria Ltd, which the defendant awarded the Terminal Constructing is owned by his youthful brother, Hamad Sirika, whereas Al Buraq World Funding Ltd, the fourth defendant he awarded the Apron Enlargement, is owned by his daughter and son-in-law. Each contracts have been awarded on the identical day, August 18, 2022.

Additional in his testimony, the witness revealed that the second defendant, Fatima Hadi Sirika upon the incorporation of Al Buraq World Funding Restricted, the fourth defendant on June 7, 2021, grew to become the corporate’s the secretary until February 2024, when she stepped apart following the graduation of felony investigations by the EFCC.

Additionally, the second defendant on the level of incorporation of the fourth defendant, the witness mentioned, owned 500,000 (5 Hundred Thousand) out of the 1,000,000 (One Million) shares of the corporate, till February 2024 and stays an individual of great management of the fourth defendant as signatory to its account, domiciled in Guaranty Trust Financial institution.

In all of those, the second defendant, he mentioned, remained a public servant until date, working in Nigerian Nationwide Petroleum Firm Restricted, NNPCL, owned solely by the federal authorities, having been engaged in 2020.

The witness additionally disclosed that Hamma Jalal Sule, the third defendant on the level of incorporation of the fourth defendant on June 17, 202, owned 500,000 shares of the corporate, until February 2024 with the graduation of the felony investigation by the EFCC and stays an individual of great management as signatory to its account, domiciled in Zenith Bank.

The second and third defendants, he mentioned bought married on December 25, 2020 in Katsina State and that the third defendant began his public service profession in 2021 in Nigeria Nuclear Regulatory Authority, NNRA, however resigned in 2023 and converted to Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Fee, NUPRC in the identical yr and works in NUPRC until date.

“Whereas the 2 are public servants, they integrated, owned the fourth defendant and in addition used the fourth defendant to get authorities’s contracts within the Federal Ministry of Aviation the place the second defendant’s father and the third defendant’s father in-law was the Minister,” the witness mentioned.

Testifying additional, the witness mentioned that upon the award of the Apron Enlargement contract to Al Buraq World Funding Restricted on November 14, 2022, the Ministry of Aviation below Hadi Sirika, paid N1.3billion with some fractions after tax to the Zenith Bank account of the corporate, representing one hundred pc fee of the contract sum.

He additionally disclosed that upon the receipt of fee, a cumulative sum of N182 million was transferred on totally different dates to the private account of the third defendant, with N110 million transferred to a hard and fast deposit account, belonging to the third defendant.

The witness additional defined that the fee of one hundred pc contract sum was solely based mostly on the approval of the primary defendant as a sitting Minister of Aviation.

He added that “moreover, upon fee of N1.3 billion, the sum of N7.4million was transferred to the private account of the second defendant in Jaiz Bank; N8.2 million was transferred to the wage account of the third defendant in Access Bank Plc, and N500 million was transferred to Trimak Engineering Providers Ltd and was by no means utilized for the contract,” however was expended on one other contract awarded to Trimak Engineering Providers Ltd from different companies of the federal government.

Based on the witness, out of the full contract sum of N1.3 billion paid, the sum of over N549 million remains to be within the firm’s account which has an interim injunction positioned on it.

The witness additional revealed that there have been different transfers to people and firms unconnected to the execution of the Apron Enlargement contract.

Requested in regards to the standing of the contract, the witness mentioned, “nothing has been completed.”

The additional-judicial statements of the second and third defendants to the EFCC, the witness disclosed, have been taken within the presence of their lawyer, Suleiman Usman Kuku, a lawyer within the workplace of the second defendant.

Objections from counsel to second and third defendant, M.A. Magaji, SAN and Sanusi Musa, SAN, respectively did not cease the admission of the extra-judicial statements of the defendants in court docket, for which they needed to declare that the statements weren’t given voluntarily in accordance with Sections 15(4) and 17(2) of the Administration of Prison Justice Act ACJA.

The decide needed to rule for a trial-within-trial to find out if the statements have been taken voluntarily and in compliance Sections 15(4) and 17(2) of ACJA and adjourned the matter until October 27, 28 and 29, 2025 for graduation of trial inside trial.