ALLEGED N2.7BN FRAUD: EFCC WITNESS IDENTIFIES SIRIKA'S VOICE IN AUDIO RECORDING

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By Aishat Momoh. O.

The trial of former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, over an alleged N2.7 billion fraud took a dramatic turn on Wednesday as an Economic and Financial Crimes Commission witness identified the former minister’s voice in an audio recording played before the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja.

The recording was played in open court before Justice S.C. Oriji during the continuation of proceedings in the case involving Sirika and three others.

The prosecution’s 12th witness, Assistant Commander of the EFCC, Christopher Odofin, testified that the voice in the recording belonged to Sirika and that it captured a conversation between the former minister and the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Aviation, Enitan Abel.

Led through his testimony under cross-examination by defence counsel, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), Odofin told the court that the audio was a voice note sent by Sirika from Spain to the permanent secretary.

According to the witness, the conversation centred on a consultancy arrangement involving Professor Gabriel Tilman, whom he described as the alter ego of Tinaero Nigeria Limited.

Odofin said the voice note captured Sirika informing the permanent secretary that he would assign someone to guide Tilman on how consultancy work was carried out in Nigeria.

The witness identified the individual as Yasir, whom he described as a cousin of the former minister.

He further testified that Sirika described Tilman as someone who was “comfortable” with the ministry and referred to him as a close friend.

According to the witness, the recording also suggested that Tilman was unpopular with some ministry officials, citing Sirika’s remark that “some people did not like him.”

Odofin also told the court that Tinaero Nigeria Limited was incorporated barely a year before it was awarded two contracts, a development he said was significant to the Commission’s case against the defendants.

During the proceedings, the court admitted into evidence an order freezing the bank accounts of the third defendant, Hamma Jalal Sule, and the fourth defendant, Al Buraq Investment Global Limited, both maintained with Zenith Bank.

Sirika is standing trial alongside his daughter, Fatima Hadi Sirika; his son-in-law, Hamma Jalal Sule; and Al Buraq Global Investment Limited, a company allegedly linked to his daughter.

Under further cross-examination by Sirika’s counsel, Kanu Agabi (SAN), the witness identified Exhibit 9 as a letter from the Ministry of Aviation to the Bureau of Public Procurement seeking a no-objection certificate to adopt the selective tendering method for critical capital projects.

He confirmed that the document was signed by the ministry’s permanent secretary, Enitan Abel.

Odofin also identified Exhibit 11 as the Bureau of Public Procurement’s response approving the ministry’s request for selective tendering.

However, he acknowledged under cross-examination that neither Exhibit 9 nor Exhibit 11 made any reference to Sirika.