Ex-minister’s daughter, who works with NNPC, got N1.4bn airport contract without execution

An Abuja High Court has heard shocking revelations about how former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, allegedly abused his position to award a N1.4 billion contract to a company owned by his daughter and son-in-law, which was fully paid without executing the project.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) witness, Adekunle Odofin, disclosed on Tuesday that Sirika approved 100 percent payment for an apron expansion project at Katsina Airport, awarded to Al Buraq Global Investment Limited — a company owned by his daughter, Fatima Sirika, and her husband, Jalal Hamma.

Sirika, his daughter Fatima, her husband Jalal, and Al Buraq Global Investment Limited are facing trial before Justice Sylvanus Oriji on a six-count charge bordering on abuse of office and contract fraud.

According to the EFCC, Sirika used his influence as minister to split a contract into two — one for the terminal building awarded to Enginos Nigeria Limited (allegedly owned by his brother, Hamad), and the apron expansion awarded to Al Buraq.

This tactic, Odofin said, was aimed at avoiding scrutiny from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) and the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

Odofin told the court that on November 14, 2022, the Federal Ministry of Aviation paid over N1.3 billion (after tax deductions) to Al Buraq’s Zenith Bank account — the entire contract sum for the apron expansion project.

The payment, he stated, was approved solely by Sirika during his tenure as minister.

Further investigations revealed that Fatima and Jalal, both public servants working with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) respectively, each held 500,000 shares in Al Buraq. They were also signatories to the company’s bank account.

Odofin testified that from the payment received by Al Buraq, N182 million was transferred to Jalal’s personal Zenith Bank account. Out of this, N110 million was moved into his fixed deposit account, which currently holds N100 million under EFCC’s interim forfeiture order.

The EFCC witness further alleged that large sums from the contract payment were diverted to other entities. One such firm, Trimak Engineering Services Limited, received N500 million from Al Buraq — funds that were never used for the Katsina airport project but rather for unrelated contracts awarded to Trimak by other agencies.

Odofin stressed that Al Buraq did not carry out any portion of the contract, and about N549 million of the paid funds still remain in the company’s account, also under a court-ordered interim freeze.

Following objections from the defence, the court has ordered a trial-within-trial to determine the voluntariness of the statements given by Fatima and Jalal to EFCC investigators, in line with Sections 15(4) and 17(2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015.

Justice Oriji adjourned the case until October 27 for the commencement of the trial-within-trial.