An Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) investigator on Wednesday told the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja that former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, neither initiated nor signed the procurement documents for a contract at the centre of his ongoing trial.

The investigator, Christopher Udofia, who testified as the 12th prosecution witness (PW12), said the procurement documents relating to the contract awarded to Tianaero Nigeria Limited (TNL) were signed by the then Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Aviation, Abel Enitan.

Under cross-examination by Sirika’s counsel, Chief Godwin Agabi (SAN), Udofia also acknowledged that official correspondence between the ministry and the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) did not, on its face, indicate that Sirika directed or induced the Permanent Secretary to seek the bureau’s approval.

Exhibits 9 and 11, tendered before the court, comprised a letter from Enitan requesting the BPP’s approval to adopt selective tendering for the contract and the bureau’s response.

Asked whether either document suggested that Sirika influenced the Permanent Secretary to make the request, the witness replied: “There is nothing suggesting such.”

Udofia further told the court that, as the ministry’s accounting officer, the Permanent Secretary was responsible for acting on the BPP’s response and implementing the procurement process on behalf of the ministry.

Despite the acknowledgment, the EFCC witness maintained that investigators believed the contract should not have been awarded to Tianaero Nigeria Limited because the company had been registered only about a year before receiving the contract.

When asked why the former Permanent Secretary was not charged alongside Sirika if investigators considered the procurement process defective, Udofia said the decision on who to prosecute was beyond his responsibilities as an investigator.

Earlier in the proceedings, the prosecution tendered a flash drive containing an audio recording alleged to be a conversation involving Sirika and the Permanent Secretary over a contract connected to the Nigeria Air project.

According to the prosecution, the recording captured a voice alleged to be Sirika’s directing the Permanent Secretary to handle the contract and ensure the contractor was neither overpaid nor underpaid, while describing the contractor as experienced in the aviation industry.

The court admitted the flash drive in evidence as Exhibit 37B, with the defence reserving its objections to its admissibility until the final address.

The EFCC is prosecuting Sirika and three others on an amended six-count charge alleging contract-related offences involving Al-Buraq Global Investment Limited, a company the prosecution alleges is linked to the former minister’s daughter. The commission also alleges that Sirika used his office to confer an unfair advantage on Tianaero Nigeria Limited in connection with the Nigeria Air project.

Sirika and the other defendants have pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

The defence maintains that the Nigeria Air project predated Sirika’s appointment as Aviation Minister and was implemented under the Public-Private Partnership framework, with procurement oversight involving the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), the Bureau of Public Procurement and other statutory agencies.

Justice Sylvanus Chinedu Oriji adjourned the case until July 9 for the continuation of the cross-examination of the 12th prosecution witness.