A Kwara High Court,has ordered the remand of six officials of Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board in Ilorin Correctional Centre pending their trial April 16 trial date over alleged N96million fraud.
The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The prosecution counsel, Andrew Akoja, requested a trial date and for the defendants to be detained at the Nigerian Correctional Centre.
The defendants’ legal representatives, led by Abdullahi Lawal, made verbal bail applications on behalf of their clients.
The Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, had arraigned Ibrahim Mujeeb,the Executive Officer of Account and Salary Schedule of the Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB and five others over alleged fraud.
They were arraigned before Justice Suleiman Akanbi of the State High Court in Ilorin, are guilty of fraudulent activities.
They are being prosecuted on a four-count indictment of breach of trust and misappropriation of funds totaling N96 million.
The other accused individuals include Ahmed Husain Olarewaju, Director of Finance and Supply; Omole Omololu John, Controller of Finance and Accounts; Fatai Oyerinde, Coordinator of the Salary Unit;; Salami Temitope Bashir and Dauda Aweda Quozim, who are part of the Salary Unit at Kwara SUBEB.
The suspects are believed to have stolen about N70 million, money meant to educate poor and vulnerable children in Kwara.
In their respective roles, the defendants purportedly colluded between 2018 and 2020 to convert public funds belonging to the Kwara State Government for personal gain, dividing the proceeds among themselves.
One of the charges states: “That you, Ahmed Husain Olarewaju, Omole Omololu, Fatai Oyerinde, Mujeeb Ibrahim and Bashir Temitope Salami, between September, 2018 and December, 2018 in Ilorin, within the judicial division of the Kwara State High Court, being public officers in the service of the Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (KWSUBEB) and in such capacity entrusted with a certain property amounting to N33,891,982.37 (Thirty Three Million, Eight Hundred and Ninety-One Thousand, Nine Hundred and Eighty Two Naira, Thirty Seven Kobo) which sum formed part of the Kwara State SUBEB funds in account No: 0031236028 domiciled at Sterling Bank Plc, and you thereby committed the offence of criminal breach of trust in respect of the said property punishable under Section 315 of the Penal Code.”
Another charge reads: “That you, Ahmed Husain Olarewaju, Omole Omololu, Fatai Oyerinde, Mujeeb Ibrahim and Bashir Temitope Salami, between January 2019 and June, 2019 in Ilorin, within the judicial division of the Kwara State High Court, being public officers in the service of the Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board and in such capacity entrusted with a certain property amounting to N30,406,629.09 (Thirty Million, Four Hundred and Six Thousand, Six Hundred and Twenty Nine Naira, Nine Kobo) which sum formed part of the Kwara State SUBEB funds in account no: 0031236028 domiciled at Sterling Bank Plc, and you thereby Committed the offence of criminal breach of trust in respect of the said property punishable under Section 315 of the penal code.”
