The trial of former Aviation Minister, Hadi Sirika, has been adjourned to October 14, 15 and 20 by Justice Sylvanus Oriji of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Abuja, to mark the 80th birthday of former Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Godwin Kanu Agabi (SAN), who is defence counsel to the former minister.

The adjournment, requested by prosecuting counsel Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), was to allow Agabi time with family and well-wishers to celebrate the milestone.

The application was unopposed by other defence counsel in the matter.

Justice Oriji, granting the request, urged parties to use the occasion to explore an amicable out-of-court settlement of the case.

The adjourned sitting had been billed for continuation of cross-examination of the 12th prosecution witness (PW12), Christopher Odofia, by Agabi.

At Wednesday’s proceedings, before the adjournment, Odofia, an investigator with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), told the court that Sirika neither initiated nor signed procurement documents relating to a N2 billion contract awarded to Tianaero Nigeria Limited (TNL), owned by Gabriel Tilmann.

He said the documents forwarded to the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) were signed by the then Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Aviation, Abel Enitan, and that nothing on their face showed the former minister had induced the Permanent Secretary to seek the bureau’s approval.

Under cross-examination by Agabi, the witness confirmed that Exhibit 9 — Enitan’s letter to the BPP seeking a waiver for selective tendering — and Exhibit 11, the bureau’s response, showed no direct involvement by Sirika. Asked directly whether either document suggested Sirika had induced the Permanent Secretary’s request, Odofia said there was nothing to that effect.

The witness said Enitan, as the ministry’s accounting officer, was responsible for acting on the bureau’s response and had done so in that capacity. He maintained, however, that the contract ought not to have been awarded to TNL, given the company had been incorporated barely a year before receiving it.

Pressed by the defence on why Enitan was not charged alongside Sirika if the procurement process was considered flawed, Odofia said determining who to prosecute fell outside an investigator’s remit.

Earlier in proceedings, prosecution counsel Jacobs tendered a flash drive through the witness containing a voice recording said to be of Sirika instructing Enitan on the award of a contract linked to the Nigeria Air project. In the recording, the speaker is heard directing that the contractor ,described as having founded seven airlines globally and served as a trainee captain and chief pilot , should not be overpriced or shortchanged.

The flash drive was admitted and marked Exhibit 37B, with the defence reserving objections to its admissibility for final addresses.

The EFCC is prosecuting Sirika and three others on an amended six-count charge of contract fraud involving Al-Buraq Global Investment Limited, a company the agency links to Sirika’s daughter. The commission alleges the contracts, valued at N2.8 billion, were used to confer an unfair advantage on TNL for the Nigeria Air project.

The defendants have denied the charges, maintaining that the national carrier initiative predated Sirika’s appointment, having originated from a presidential committee under former President Muhammadu Buhari, and that the project was subsequently run under the Public-Private Partnership framework with procurement overseen by the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission and other statutory agencies rather than the minister.

Other defendants are represented by Mahmud Magaji (SAN), Sanusi Musa and Michael Numa (SAN).