Joseph Bakare
The trial of former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, took a dramatic turn on Wednesday, July 8, 2026 as Justice S.C. Oriji of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, High Court in Abuja listened to a recording of the conversation between the former minister who is standing trial before it and the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Enitan Abel.
The prosecution witness (PW12) , Assistant Commander of the EFCC, ACE II Christopher Odofin, an investigator with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, led by defence counsel, Rotimi Jacobs SAN, confirmed to the court that the voice in the recording belonged to Sirika who is heard speaking to the Permanent Secretary.
The witness said the audio recording played in open court captured the voice of the former minister discussing a contentious consultancy arrangement with Abel.
Odofin further stated that the mode of communication between Sirika and Abel was a voice note sent by the former minister from Spain to Abel. He said the almost 70-year-old individual referenced in the voice note was Prof. Gabriel Tilman, described as the alter ego of Tinaero Nigeria Limited.
In the voice note, the 1st defendant was heard in the recording telling the permanent secretary that he would attach someone to Tilman to guide him on how consultancy work is done in Nigeria. PW12 identified the person assigned to Tilman as one Yasir, whom he described as a cousin to the former minister.
The witness further disclosed that the voice note captured Sirika describing someone as “comfortable” with the ministry, which the witness said referred to Tilman, whom Sirika described as a very good friend. Odofin said Tilman was not well liked within the ministry because he always imposed himself on officials there, a conclusion he drew from a remark by Sirika in the recording: “Some people did not like him.”
PW12 also told the court that Tinaero Nigeria Limited was incorporated barely a year before it was awarded two contracts, a timeline he presented as significant to the Commission’s case against the former minister and his co-defendants.
Following the testimony, the court admitted into evidence an order freezing the accounts of the third defendant, Hamma Jalal Sule, and the fourth defendant, Al Buraq Investment Global Limited, both domiciled with Zenith Bank.
Sirika is standing trial alongside his daughter, Fatima Hadi Sirika; his son-in-law, Hamma Jalal Sule; and Al Buraq Global Investment Limited, a company linked to his daughter.
Under cross-examination by counsel to the first defendant, Kanu Agabi, SAN, Odofin told the court that Exhibit 9, earlier admitted in evidence, was a request by the Ministry of Aviation to the Bureau for Public Procurement, BPP for a no-objection certificate to adopt the selective tendering method of procurement for critical capital projects in the ministry. He confirmed the document was signed by the permanent secretary, Enitan O. Abel.
The witness also identified Exhibit 11 (tendered in court) as a letter from the BPP to the permanent secretary responding to the ministry’s request to adopt selective tendering for the critical capital projects. Odofin confirmed under cross-examination that neither Exhibit 9 nor Exhibit 11 made any reference to Sirika.