The younger brother to the former Minister of Aviation Hadi Abubakar Sirika, Abubakar Ahmad Sirika, has been arrested by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Hadi Abubakar was arrested by the anti-graft agency on Sunday, February 4.
He was arrested in connection with the alleged fraud committed by his brother while he was in office as minister. Sirika is accused of conspiracy, abuse of office, diversion of public funds, contract inflation, criminal breach of trust and money laundering amounting to N8,069,176,864.
The Commission revealed that the former minister awarded four aviation contracts to Engirios Nigeria Limited, owned by his younger brother.
Abubakar, listed as the MD/CEO, is the sole signatory to the company’s Zenith and Union bank accounts. Sources within the EFCC disclosed that Sirika, aware of his brother’s civil servant status, awarded the contracts despite his position as a deputy director in the Federal Ministry of Water Resources since 2000.
The source added that out of the total contract sum, the ex-minister disbursed N3.2 billion to his brother’s company, which he then transferred the funds to various entities, with no evidence of work completed on any of the contracts.
