By Uthman Baba-Al-Naseer, Minna

A total of Forty Five inmates on awaiting trial and Convicts have breath the air of freedom during the visit of the Chief Judge of Niger State, Justice ♎ Halima Ibrahim Abdulmalik statewide working visit to Correctional Centres

The Chief Judge commenced the four days working visit on the 6th,March 2025 in Suleja Federal Medium Correctional centre where five convicts were pardoned for being remorseful while serving their jail terms.

Justice Halima Ibrahim Abdulmalik,in continuation of the visit to bring relief to the correctional facilities across the state, was at the Minna old Medium Correctional centre between Monday, 10th,and Tuesday,11th,2025 and a total of twelve Convicts were discharged.

Also, the Chief Judge ordered for the summary trial of fourteen others to be given lighter convictions from the date of their arrest and detention in the correctional Custody.

At the Minna new Medium Correctional centre in Tunga, a total of twenty five other inmates standing trial were discharged by the Chief Judge while twelve inmates standing trial on various Offences had their cases reviewed.

Justice Halima Ibrahim Abdulmalik concluded the working visit to Children remand home at Angwan Daji where she released five under aged children two among them were kidnapped.

Equally,the Chief judge granted bail to two siblings Anas Umar,and Mubarak Umar who were arrested at Gauraka in Tafa Local government area of Niger State.

They were alleged to have been in possession of aluminum believed to have been stolen and sold to scrap dealers (Yan gwongwon).

The Chief Judge directed the Ministry of women affairs to take the adoption of the two siblings with the aim of keeping them in their custody for proper upbringings.

Justice Halima Ibrahim Abdulmalik, while expressing her disgust on the increasing rates of crime among juveniles,in the state, she called on parents and guardians to leave up to their responsibility of inculcating proper upbringings to their children.

She noted that the involvement of Anas into crime was initiated by his brother stating that their parents have deviated from their parental responsibilities.

By Our Reporter

The trial of the immediate past Governor of Kwara State, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, and his Finance Commissioner, Ademola Banu, over alleged misappropriation of N5.78 billion in public funds continued on Wednesday, March 11, 2024, before Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar of the Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin.

At the resumed hearing on Wednesday, the EFCC presented its second witness (PW 2), Dr. Musa Oladimeji Dasuki, a retired Permanent Secretary at the Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), who served between 2011 and 2020.

Led in evidence by EFCC counsel Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, Dasuki testified that the Kwara State Government, under the leadership of the first defendant as governor and the second defendant as finance commissioner, requested UBEC funds for the years 2013 and 2014 to pay teachers’ salaries.

According to Dasuki: “The then Commissioner for Finance, Ademola Banu, who is the second defendant in this case, initially made an oral request for the release of the 2013 UBEC Matching Grant to pay teachers’ salaries. However, we insisted that such a request must be made in writing. Subsequently, the commissioner sent a letter conveying His Excellency’s approval for the release of the funds. As a result, the money was deposited into the state government’s account domiciled with Skye Bank Plc.”

Dasuki further explained that SUBEB initially opposed the request because they knew it would affect ongoing projects. However, they eventually approved the release after receiving assurances from Banu that the funds would be repaid once the state received its allocation from Abuja.

“A letter was written to that effect from the office of the Commissioner for Finance, signed on his behalf, and the money was released immediately upon receiving the letter,” he added.

Despite the assurances, Dasuki stated that the money was never repaid.

“According to the 2013 action plan submitted to UBEC, the funds were intended for the construction of 40 standard classroom blocks with offices, 40 VIP toilets, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) centers in primary and junior secondary schools across the 16 Local Government Areas of Kwara State. However, many of these projects could not be executed because the funds had been diverted,” he said.

He further testified that many contractors protested due to non-payment for completed projects.

During cross-examination by Jimoh Mumini, SAN, counsel to the first defendant, Dasuki confirmed that neither the former governor nor the finance commissioner was a member of SUBEB. He also clarified that the loans were obtained on behalf of the state government, not in the defendants’ personal capacities.

Further hearing has been adjourned until Thursday, March 13, 2025.