Musa Odiniyan, the fifth witness in the ongoing fraud trial of Hadi Sirika, former Minister of Aviation, has told the Abuja Federal High Court how an unqualified Al Buraq Global Investment got a contract to repair the Katsina Airport.
Odiniyan, a retired director in the Ministry of Aviation’s Procurement Department, gave this account on Monday.
He reaffirmed this stance when Micheal Musa, a counsel to one of the defendants, did a cross-examination.
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Odiniyan said that Al Buraq would not have got the contract if open bidding had been conducted before it was awarded.
“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,” Odiniyan said.
He also said that the contract was paid for because the Aviation Ministry wanted the project to be done before the end of Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure so that the former president could commission it.
“The reason for that payment was for the project to be implemented and commissioned before the exit of the former president. It was not for variation. The accounting officer sourced money from every relevant route to actualise the project. The N800 million is a budgetary allowance to support the actualisation of the project,” he said.
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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) charged Sirika, Fatima Hadi Sirika, Sule Hamma and Al Buraq Global Investment on six-count amended charges bordering on contract fraud to the tune of N2,825,032,220.97.
In addition, Odiniyan told the court that two of the aviation ministry’s contracts awarded to Al Buraq and Enginos on the Apron Terminal Building of Katsina Airport were captured under two different budget codes but appeared in a single code in the Prosecution Department.
After the hearing, the judge adjourned the matter until March 10.
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