A prosecution witness in the trial of former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, has alleged that the ex-minister abused his position by awarding major aviation contracts worth billions of naira to companies linked to members of his immediate family.
Testifying before Justice S.C. Oriji of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja, Christopher Odofin, an investigator with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), detailed how Sirika, who served as minister from November 11, 2016, to May 29, 2023, manipulated a contract meant for terminal construction and apron expansion.
Odofin explained that what was initially a single contract listed as Serial No. 13 in a June 6, 2022, response from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) was allegedly split into two by Sirika in a deliberate effort to bypass higher-level approvals.
“One portion of the contract was awarded to Enginos Nigeria Limited for N1.3 billion, and the other to Al Buraq Global Investment Limited for N1.4 billion,” Odofin testified. By splitting the contract, Sirika reportedly avoided seeking clearance from the BPP and the Federal Executive Council (FEC), as the individual amounts were below the threshold that would require their consent.
EFFC uncovered properties of Sirika’s family
Further EFCC investigations uncovered that Enginos Nigeria Limited belongs to Sirika’s younger brother, Hamad Sirika, while Al Buraq Global Investment Limited is owned by his daughter, Fatima Hadi Sirika, and his son-in-law, Hamma Jalal Sule. The contracts were awarded on the same day—August 18, 2022.
According to Odofin, Fatima was listed as company secretary for Al Buraq from its registration in June 2021 until February 2024, resigning only after the EFCC opened a criminal probe into the matter. She held half the company’s shares—500,000 of a total 1 million—and had authority over the firm’s Guaranty Trust Bank account. Despite her involvement, Fatima has been employed as a public servant with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) since 2020.
Her husband, Hamma Sule, who owns the remaining 500,000 shares in the company, also works in the public sector. He began his career at the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority in 2021 before moving to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) in 2023, where he is still employed. The two were married on December 25, 2020, in Katsina State.
Odofin testified that both Fatima and Sule, while serving as public officials, used their company to secure lucrative government contracts under the direct supervision of their father and father-in-law, then-Minister Sirika.
He added that the Ministry of Aviation paid Al Buraq the full contract sum of N1.3 billion on November 14, 2022, crediting the company’s Zenith Bank account.
