23rd February, 2024
By Taiwo Okanlawon
Justice Evelyn Anyadike of the Federal High Court, Ilorin, has granted bail to the former governor of Kwara State, AbdulFatah Ahmed after he was arraigned over his alleged involvement in the diversion of over N10 billion belonging to the state government.
The bail conditions are that he should deposit N50 million to the court and produce a surety that has landed properties in Ilorin, among others.
He is expected to be kept in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, until those bail conditions are perfected.
The anti-graft agency had charged Abdulfatah Ahmed before a Federal High Court in Ilorin over an alleged diversion of over N10billion after was grilled at Ilorin Command Office to answer questions regarding an allegation of Billions of Naira during his tenure.
The commission had discovered that some funds belonging to the state were misappropriated and diverted by Ahmed’s government and Saraki’s government in which he served as the Commissioner for Finance.
Ahmed was appointed as the Commissioner for Finance in Kwara after Saraki assumed office as governor in 2003.
He also served as the treasurer of the Forum of Commissioners of Finance in Nigeria and the Chairman of the Budget Formulation Committee and Economic Team of Kwara State.
In the build-up to the 2011 general elections, Ahmed contested and won the primary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He won the Kwara governorship seat and re-election after succeeding Saraki, who also won the election to represent Kwara Central senatorial district in the National Assembly after completing two terms as governor.
Ahmed left office in 2019 and was succeeded by the incumbent governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, who won on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In 2021, a team of EFCC operatives questioned Ahmed at the headquarters of the anti-graft agency in the Jabi area of Abuja, concerning an alleged diversion of funds, amounting to N9bn, from the coffers of the Kwara State government.