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A witness in the alleged N2.7 billion fraud trial involving former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, has told the High Court in Abuja that a leaked audio recording played in court contains the former minister’s voice.
According to the Economic and Financial Commission (EFCC), the development occurred on Wednesday, July 8, 2026, during proceedings before Justice S.C. Oriji, where the court listened to a recording of a conversation between Sirika and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Aviation, Enitan Abel.
The EFCC investigator and prosecution witness, ACE II Christopher Odofin, identified the voice in the recording as that of Sirika while responding to questions from defence counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN.
Odofin told the court that the audio captured Sirika discussing a consultancy arrangement involving Prof. Gabriel Tilman, whom he described as the alter ego of Tinaero Nigeria Limited.
According to the witness, the recording was a voice note that Sirika sent to Abel while the former minister was in Spain. He said the almost 70-year-old person mentioned in the recording was Tilman, who was being guided on how consultancy arrangements operate in Nigeria.
The witness said Sirika mentioned assigning an individual identified as Yasir to assist Tilman, describing Yasir as a cousin of the former minister.
Odofin also told the court that Sirika referred to Tilman as a “very good friend” in the recording and described him as someone who was comfortable with the ministry. However, the witness said Tilman was unpopular with some officials because he allegedly imposed himself on ministry staff.
Odofin said this was linked to a comment in the recording attributed to Sirika that “some people did not like him.”
The EFCC investigator further told the court that Tinaero Nigeria Limited was incorporated about a year before it received two contracts, a timeline he presented as relevant to the commission’s case against the defendants.
During the proceedings, the court admitted an order freezing the accounts of the third defendant, Hamma Jalal Sule, and the fourth defendant, Al Buraq Investment Global Limited, both held 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 Sirika, Kanu Agabi, SAN, Odofin confirmed that Exhibit 9, earlier admitted by the court, was a request from the Ministry of Aviation to the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), seeking a no-objection certificate to use selective tendering for critical capital projects.
He also confirmed that the document was signed by Permanent Secretary Enitan Abel.
The witness identified Exhibit 11 as the BPP’s response to the ministry’s request, adding that neither Exhibit 9 nor Exhibit 11 referenced Sirika.
