A Kwara High Court heard from ex-SUBEB chair Alhaji Lanre Daibu that a ₦1bn loan from the board in 2013 was used to pay state workers’ salaries and pensions

[dropcap]A [/dropcap]former Chairman of the Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Alhaji Lanre Daibu, informed a Kwara State High Court on Thursday that a ₦1 billion loan obtained from the board in 2013 was utilised by the then state government to settle outstanding workers’ salaries and pensions.

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Alhaji Daibu, who appeared as the fourth prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of former Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed and the former Commissioner for Finance, Demola Banu, made this disclosure while giving his testimony in the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s (EFCC) ₦5.78 billion fraud case against the two former officials.

He recounted that the then Commissioner of Finance, Mr Demola Banu, approached the board seeking the substantial loan.

Mr Banu reportedly explained that the state government was facing significant financial difficulties and urgently required funds to clear salary arrears owed to state workers and outstanding pension payments.

Alhaji Daibu told the court, “The then-Commissioner of Finance in the state, Mr Ademola Banu, approached the board for the N1 billion loan, adding that the state government was faced with paucity of funds and the need to request for a N1 billion loan from the SUBEB account to pay the state workers and pensioners.”

He further elaborated on the process, stating, “Thereafter, the board met and sought commitment of the state government’s request in written form, before the release was approved by the board.”

Alhaji Daibu also added, “Before the release of the loan, the board asked the state government how it was going to repay the loan, and it replied that the loan would be repaid from the monthly revenue allocation.”

However, he conceded that “the loans were not repaid before I left office because the board was dissolved.”

During cross-examination by Kamaldeen Ajibade (SAN), the lawyer representing former Governor Ahmed, Alhaji Daibu confirmed that the statement he provided to the EFCC was given under caution, indicating that he was treated as a suspect during the initial investigation.

Responding to another question, the former SUBEB chairman also clarified that “the N1 billion loan was directly transferred to the salary account of the state government” and not deposited into the personal accounts of either of the defendants, former Governor Ahmed or former Finance Commissioner Banu.

Also providing testimony, a retired permanent secretary from the Kwara State Ministry of Finance, Benjamin Fatigun, corroborated the earlier statement.

He informed the court that the ministry had recommended the SUBEB loan as a necessary measure to address salary shortfalls experienced by the state government in 2015.

These shortfalls, he explained, were a consequence of unstable monthly federal allocations received by the state during that period.

Mr Fatigun stated, “There were issues in the payment of salaries in 2015. Monthly FAAC allocation to the state’s government, as at that time, was unstable.”

He further explained that SUBEB was identified as a readily available financial resource that could provide a swift solution to rescue the government from the precarious salary payment situation.

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Mr Fatigun also echoed Alhaji Daibu’s testimony, confirming that the ₦1 billion loan obtained from SUBEB was directly credited to the state’s salary account and not transferred to the personal accounts of the first and second defendants in the case.