WITNESS TELLS COURT HOW EX-AVIATION MINISTER HADI SIRIKA ALLEGEDLY SPLIT N2.7BN CONTRACTS AMONG FAMILY MEMBERS

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By Aishat Momoh. O.

The twelfth prosecution witness (PW12), Christopher Adekunle Odofin, on Tuesday, July 1, 2025, told the FCT High Court in Maitama how former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Abubakar Sirika, allegedly used his ministerial position to award multi-billion naira contracts to companies owned by his daughter, son-in-law, and brother.

Testifying before Justice S.C. Oriji, Odofin, an investigator with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), alleged that Sirika, who served as minister between November 2016 and May 2023, split a federal aviation contract to bypass regulatory approvals and awarded them to family-controlled companies.

Sirika, his daughter Fatima Hadi Sirika, son-in-law Hamma Jalal Sule, and Al Buraq Global Investment Limited are facing trial on an amended six-count charge bordering on abuse of office and money laundering amounting to N2.7 billion.

According to Odofin, a contract for the Terminal Building and Apron Expansion, listed as a single item by the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), was split into two separate contracts—one worth N1.3 billion awarded to Enginos Nigeria Ltd, allegedly owned by Sirika’s younger brother Hamad, and the other valued at N1.4 billion awarded to Al Buraq Global Investment Ltd, a firm reportedly controlled by Fatima and Sule.

Both contracts were allegedly awarded on August 18, 2022, and approved solely by Sirika, bypassing the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

Odofin revealed that Fatima Sirika served as the secretary of Al Buraq Global until February 2024, held 500,000 of its 1,000,000 shares, and remained a signatory to the company’s account. She is currently a staff of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL). Her husband, Hamma Jalal Sule, also held 500,000 shares and remains a signatory to the company’s Zenith Bank account.

Despite being public servants, the couple allegedly used Al Buraq to obtain contracts from the Ministry of Aviation, where Sirika was the minister.

The EFCC investigator testified that following the award of the Apron Expansion contract, the ministry paid the full N1.3 billion to Al Buraq’s Zenith Bank account. From that sum, N182 million was reportedly transferred to Sule’s personal account, including N110 million into a fixed deposit, while N7.4 million and N8.2 million were transferred to Fatima’s and Sule’s other bank accounts, respectively.

He also disclosed that N500 million was diverted to Trimak Engineering Services Ltd, unrelated to the awarded contract, while N549 million remains in Al Buraq’s account, which is currently under an interim court order.

When asked about the status of the project, Odofin said, “Nothing has been done.”

Attempts by defence counsel M.A. Magaji, SAN, and Sanusi Musa, SAN, to prevent the court from admitting the extra-judicial statements made by the second and third defendants failed. The court ruled for a trial-within-trial to determine the voluntariness of the statements in line with Sections 15(4) and 17(2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA).

Justice Oriji adjourned the matter until October 27, 28, and 29, 2025, for continuation of the trial-within-trial.