Oluseyi Dasilva
A witness in the suit filed against the immediate past Chairperson of the Kwara State Scholarship Board, Hajia Fatimoh Yusuf and two others over the alleged bursary fraud which commenced on Wednesday 4th of March 2020 before Justice Sikiru Oyinloye of a Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin has given indicting evidence against the defendants.
The Ilorin Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC) had on the 15th of January 2020 dragged Yusuf alongside of the Executive Secretary of the State Scholarship board, Alhaji Fatai Lamidi and board’s Accountant, Mr Stephen Ajewole.
The charges read in part, “That you, Fatimah Yusuf (while being the chairman, Kwara State Scholarship Board), Fatai Lamidi (while being the executive secretary, Kwara State Scholarship Board) and Ajewole Stephen (while being the accountant, Kwara State Scholarship Board), between the months of November 2018 and May 2019, in Ilorin, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, while acting in those capacities and entrusted with N50m for the payment of 2018 bursary awards to 10,000 students who are indigenes of Kwara State, dishonestly disposed of N6,269,950 out of the above sum in violation of the direction of law prescribing the mode the trust is to be discharged, thereby committing criminal breach of trust punishable under Section 315 of the same law”
At the resumed hearing of the case of Wednesday, Prosecuting Counsel, O. B. Akinsola presented the 1st prosecution witness, Isiaka Afeez Adeshina, one of the Executives of the National Association of Kwara State Students to give evidence in the matter.
Adeshina said the Scholarship board officials listed his name as one of the beneficiaries of the 2018 bursary award at the University of Ilorin but insisted that he did not benefit from the money.
” My Lord, I happened to be a Student of the University of Ilorin, my name was shortlisted as one of the beneficiaries of the 2018 bursary award released by the Kwara State Government, my serial number on the list is 725, but I did not collect the money, each Student entitled to the sum of five thousand naira, but to my surprise, when I was invited by the EFCC, they confronted me with some documents especially the payment vouchers, I found my name among those that have been paid, they signed against my name as beneficiary, the signature is not mine, my signature was forged”
According to him: ” When they started the payment, they did not pay up to 350 Students, they told us they were going for jumat Prayer, they came back and said the money had finished ”
Further hearing in the matter has been adjourned till 11th of March 2020 when other issues as relating to the matter will be attended to.
