Court Hears How Hadi Sirika’s Daughter, In-law Secured Multi-Billion Contracts as Public Servants

The twelfth prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Abubakar Sirika, on Tuesday narrated before the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Maitama, how the ex-minister allegedly manipulated contract awards in favour of his family members while in office.

Testifying before Justice S.C. Oriji, the witness, Mr. Christopher Adekunle Odofin, an investigator with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), revealed that Sirika, during his tenure from November 11, 2016, to May 29, 2023, split aviation contracts and awarded them to companies owned by his daughter, son-in-law, and younger brother.

Sirika is the first defendant in the case and is standing trial alongside his daughter, Fatima Hadi Sirika; his son-in-law, Hamma Jalal Sule; and Al Buraq Global Investment Limited, on an amended six-count charge bordering on abuse of office and money laundering to the tune of N2.7 billion.

Led in evidence by prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, the EFCC witness explained that the contract for the Terminal Building and Apron Expansion was originally a single project, listed as Serial No. 13 in a June 6, 2022, letter from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) to the Ministry of Aviation.

However, Sirika allegedly used his influence to split the contract into two: one portion valued at N1.3 billion was awarded to Enginos Nigeria Ltd., a company owned by his younger brother, Hamad Sirika; the other, valued at N1.4 billion, was awarded to Al Buraq Global Investment Ltd., owned by his daughter and son-in-law.

By splitting the project, Odofin said, the former minister avoided seeking fresh approvals from both the BPP and the Federal Executive Council (FEC), since each segment fell within his ministerial approval threshold.

Both contracts were awarded on the same day — August 18, 2022.

Odofin further revealed that Fatima Sirika became secretary of Al Buraq Global upon its incorporation on June 7, 2021, and held 500,000 of its one million shares until February 2024, when she stepped aside due to the ongoing investigation. Despite that, she remained a signatory to the company’s Guaranty Trust Bank account and continued working as a public servant at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), which is fully owned by the federal government.

Her husband, Hamma Jalal Sule, also held 500,000 shares in Al Buraq Global until February 2024. He was a signatory to the company’s Zenith Bank account. The couple, who married on December 25, 2020, both served as public servants during the period in question, with Sule currently employed at the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

The EFCC investigator also disclosed that on November 14, 2022, following the award of the Apron Expansion contract, the Ministry of Aviation under Sirika made a full payment of N1.3 billion to Al Buraq Global Investment Limited. From that amount, N182 million was transferred to the personal account of Hamma Sule, with N110 million placed in his fixed deposit account.

Other disbursements included N7.4 million to Fatima Sirika’s Jaiz Bank account and N8.2 million to Sule’s salary account at Access Bank. A further N500 million was transferred to Trimak Engineering Services Ltd., which, according to the witness, was never used for the awarded contract but for another project from a different agency.

The EFCC said over N549 million remains unspent in Al Buraq’s account, now under an interim forfeiture order.

When asked about the status of the Apron Expansion project, Odofin bluntly stated, “Nothing has been done.”

Odofin also presented extra-judicial statements made by Fatima Sirika and Hamma Sule to the EFCC, which were taken in the presence of their lawyer, Suleiman Usman Kuku.

Counsel to the second and third defendants, M.A. Magaji, SAN, and Sanusi Musa, SAN, raised objections, claiming the statements were not made voluntarily in line with Sections 15(4) and 17(2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA).

Justice Oriji overruled the objections and ordered a trial-within-trial to determine the voluntariness of the statements. The court adjourned the case to October 27, 28, and 29, 2025, for the trial-within-trial to commence.