Former Aviation Minister, Hadi Sirika has been exposed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
A witness of the EFCC has tendered evidence before a Federal Capital Territory (FCT), High Court in Abuja against him.
The EFCC witness revealed how Sirika awarded contracts to a company linked to his son-in-law, Jalal Sule Hamma.
For those who don’t know, the EFCC is prosecuting Sirika alongside his daughter, Fatima and son-in-law, Hamma on a six-count amended charge bordering on contract fraud to the tune of N2,825,032,220.97 (Two billion, eight hundred and twenty five million, thirty two thousand, two hundred and twenty naira, ninety seven kobo).
The EFCC’s witness said Sirika used his position to confer an undue advantage upon Al Buraq Global Investment Limited, whose alter ego, Fatima Hadi Sirika and Jalal Sule Hamma, are his daughter and son-in-law, respectively, by using his position to influence the award to them, the contract for the Apron Extension at Katsina Airport for the sum of N1,498,300,750.
However, a retired director in the procurement department of the ministry of aviation, Musa Odiniyan, said; “The company could not have qualified for the bidding process or the contract award if open and competitive bidding had been done.”
“We use some criteria for determining the award of contracts for companies. I still maintain that if it was an open competitive bidding, the company, Al Buraq, may not have qualified.”
The witness informed the court that Sirika’s son-in-law’s firm was paid a 100 percent fee for the project with the belief that it would be commissioned before the immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari, finished his term in 2023.
According to the witness; “The time of issuing the contract letter to the company (Al Buraq) was at the twilight of the Buhari administration. That was why the contract has a period of six months.”
“The reason for the prompt payment (for the contract) was for it to be completed and inaugurated before the exit of the Buhari administration and not for the purpose of variation.”
The judge, adjourned the matter till March 10, 2025, for continuation of the cross-examination.
