Bank staff testified before the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Apo, Abuja, in connection with an alleged N1.9 billion fraud case filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against a former Deputy Director of Highways at the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Augustine Ojo Olowoniyan, along with a surveyor at the ministry’s Department of Highways and Planning, Sulaiman Abdulkadir Muhammed.
This was disclosed in an EFCC statement on Friday.
On March 19, 2025, the EFCC arraigned the defendants on a three-count charge relating to the alleged fraudulent diversion and misappropriation of public funds amounting to N1,936,961,649.00.
EFCC’s Charges
- According to the anti-graft agency, the alleged offence contravenes Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
- The funds were said to have been earmarked for the acquisition of titles for federal roads nationwide between March 4, 2019, and July 17, 2020, but were allegedly converted by the defendants for their personal use.
One of the counts in the charge reads:
“That you, Augustine Ojo Olowoniyan, while serving as Deputy Director of Highways at the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing and Project Coordinator for the acquisition of titles for Federal Roads, and Sulaiman Abdulkadir Muhammed, while serving as Surveyor in the Department of Highways and Planning, Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, between March 4, 2019, and October 21, 2019, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, used your office to confer corrupt advantage upon yourselves by diverting to your own use the sum of Eight Hundred and Seven Million, Fifty-Three Thousand Naira (N807,053,000.00), despite the funds being budgeted for the acquisition of titles for Federal Roads nationwide, thereby committing an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.”
- The defendants deny the allegations.
What Transpired in Court
- At the court proceedings, a compliance officer with United Bank for Africa (UBA), while being led in evidence by prosecuting counsel Abba Mohammed, SAN, informed the court that the bank received a request letter from the EFCC concerning an investigation into accounts linked to Olowoniyan and other customers.
- According to the witness, Olowoniyan has three accounts with the bank, while Mohammed, the second defendant, also has an account with the bank.
“The EFCC requested statements of accounts and account opening packages. The statement was extracted from the bank’s server and compared with what we have on the computer to ensure it is the same. Our information is stored in the computer.
“We retrieved soft copies, which were then sent to printers to generate hard copies. After generating the hard copies, we printed the documents, that is, the statements of accounts and account opening packages.
“I compared the printout with what was on the system to ensure that it was accurate. The details were the same. This was then dispatched to the EFCC with a cover letter and certificate of identification. I signed the certificate on behalf of my supervisor, Edward Balande, because he was on leave at that time in Lagos,” the witness said.
- After his testimony, the court admitted the EFCC Letter of Investigation Activities to UBA, dated October 30, 2023, and UBA’s reply to the EFCC letter, dated October 31, 2023, with a certificate of compliance, as exhibits.
- The court also admitted in evidence a reply from UBA to the EFCC letter dated October 31, 2023, with a certificate of compliance for Paschal Ogueri, marked as an exhibit.
- Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie adjourned the case to May 26 and 29, 2025, for continuation of the hearing.
More Insights
The EFCC also disclosed that it had arraigned the first defendant, Augustine Ojo Olowoniyan, on a separate three-count charge before the same judge for allegedly diverting public funds worth N439,502,200.00 for personal use.
In that court development, Remigus Ugwu, a staff member of Zenith Bank, told the court that Olowoniyan had four accounts with the bank, among other things.
The defendant also pleaded not guilty to these charges.
The accused remains innocent in the eyes of the law pending the court’s final verdict.
