Tuesday’s proceedings within the trial of former Minister of Aviation Hadi Sirika centered on the employment information of his daughter and son-in-law, who’re co-defendants in contract corruption and gratification prices the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) introduced towards them.
During the listening to earlier than the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja, defence legal professionals for Fatima Sirika and her husband, Jalal Hamma, confronted a prosecution witness with questions concerning the couple’s employment to indicate that they maintained a clear document at their workplaces regardless of dealing with prices.
The couple work at separate federal government-owned oil sector organisations. While Ms Sirika works on the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, her husband, Mr Hamma works on the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
Fielding questions beneath cross-examination from the couple’s defence legal professionals, Christopher Odofin, an EFCC detective testifying because the sixteenth prosecution witness, mentioned he was not conscious of any pending complaints towards them at their workplaces.
Apart from looking for to indicate the couple maintained clear information at work, the defence groups additionally tried to determine that they weren’t affiliated to the Ministry of Aviation which is on the centre of the contract-related prices introduced up within the trial.
EFCC accused Mr Sirika of utilizing his place because the then-aviation minister, between 2015 and 2023, to confer an unfair benefit by a contract award price N1.5 billion on Al Buraq Global Investment Limited, an organization linked to his daughter and her husband. The N1.5 billion contract which the EFCC alleged was corruptly awarded to Al Buraq was the Katsina airport apron extension. Al Baruq is the fourth defendant within the trial.
Also, the anti-graft company alleged that Fatima and her husband held oblique personal pursuits within the contract, with N1.3 billion allegedly traced to Mr Sirika as proceeds of legal conduct within the kind of gratification.
All defendants pleaded not responsible to all prices, which additionally embody one other contract relating to the botched Air Nigeria.
The prices towards Fatima and her husband pivots on part 12 of the ICPC Act, which states that any public officer who knowingly acquires or holds instantly or not directly a personal curiosity in any contract, settlement, or funding from the workplace or division through which they’re employed is responsible of an offence.
On Tuesday, Mr Odofin, the sixteenth prosecution witness, mentioned beneath cross-examination by Ms Sirika’s lawyer, Efut Okoi, that he was not conscious if NNPC Limited’s workers weren’t public officers.
However, the witness mentioned that whereas he knew that NNPC has the standing of a industrial restricted legal responsibility firm, its workers members are nonetheless being paid by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
When Mr Hamma’s lawyer, P. A. Adewuyi, took his flip of cross-examination, the witness mentioned NUPRC, the employer of Mr Sirika’s son-in-law, “is not under the Ministry of Aviation.”
He additionally mentioned sure reveals associated to the contracts weren’t signed by Mr Hamma and didn’t emanate from NUPRC.
Award of contract to Al Buraq Investment
Fielding extra questions, Mr Odofing mentioned he knew by investigations that Mr Sirika used his place to award a contract to Al Buraq, despite the fact that the then-chairman of the aviation ministry’s Ministerial Tenders Board (MTB), Abel Enitan, by no means disclosed such to him.
He mentioned he was conscious that Mr Enitan is now the top of Civil Service of the Federation.
The response was adopted by a query from Mr Adewuyi, asking, “If the contract was illegal, would the government have rescinded it?”
EFCC’s prosecution lawyer Rotimi Jacobs, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), objected to the query, describing it as hypothetical.
Judge Slyvanus Oriji sustained Mr Jacobs’ objection, defence lawyer Mr Adewuyi, put it to the witness that the truth that the contract was not rescinded meant that it was not unlawful. But the witness replied, “I cannot say.”
Asked if knew that on 17 March 2025, the Ministry of Aviation withdrew the previous contract and re-awarded it to the identical Al Buraq, the witness mentioned he was not conscious of such growth.
Thereafter, Al Baruq’s lawyer, M.J. Numa, a SAN lawyer to Al Buraq, sought an adjournment to assessment earlier questions requested by the opposite defence groups.
The decide granted the request and adjourned the case till 28 October.
Al Buraq and the couple’s relation to the case
The employment standing of Fatima and Mr Hamma had been a topic of the testimonies of two earlier prosecution witnesses.
On 26 June 2025, Gabriel Adagba, a former head of Human Resources on the NUPRC, appeared because the tenth prosecution witness, and Abidoye Babatunde, the Deputy Manager of Policy Compliance and Accountability at NNPC Limited, took the stand because the eleventh prosecution witness, to debate the couple’s employment information.
Mr Adagba informed the courtroom that Mr Hamma was employed as a regulatory officer 1 on 3 February 2023 with NUPRC. He famous {that a} background verify was carried out on his earlier employment historical past.
Under cross-examination by the primary and fourth defendant’s lawyer, M.J Numa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr Adagba disclosed that he was not aware about the process of Mr Hamma’s recruitment or conscious if he crammed in a Code of Conduct Bureau Form as a result of he was not the top of HR earlier than Mr Hamma’s employment.
The witness additionally informed the courtroom he didn’t know concerning the NUPRC awarding contract to Al Buraq Global Investment Limited, the fourth defendant.
The eleventh prosecution witness, Mr Babatunde, the NNPC official, later took his flip within the witness field to testify about Fatima Sirika’s employment.
He tendered paperwork admitted by the courtroom as reveals, together with Fatima’s provisional supply of employment and affirmation of employment. The decide marked the paperwork Exhibit 27.
Regarding the alleged corrupt contract awards, Mr Odofin testified in July 2025, that Mr Sirika allegedly break up the contract for terminal constructing and apron enlargement on the Umaru Musa Yar’adua Airport, Katsina, Katsina State, to bypass regulatory oversight and scrutiny in favour of family-linked firms.
According to the witness, Mr Sirika break up the contract into two, awarding the terminal constructing to Enginos, an organization belonging to his brother Hamad Sirika, and the apron enlargement to Al Buraq Global Investment Limited.
The detective testified that the contract splitting helped Mr Sirika evade the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) and the Federal Executive Council (FEC) within the contract approval course of. He testified that the couple acquired cost for the contract.
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