Nigeria, July 1 -- A prosecution witness on Tuesday told the FCT High Court in Abuja how former Minister of Aviation Hadi Sirika allegedly split a contract to bypass regulatory oversight and scrutiny in favour of family-linked companies.

The witness, Adekunle Odofin, who is an Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) investigator, testified that the contract splitting helped Mr Sirika to evade the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) and the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in the contract approval process.

Mr Odofin, who started testifying as the 12th prosecution witness on Monday, identified the contracts in issue as the terminal building and apron expansion at the Umaru Musa Yar'adua Airport, Katsina, Katsina State. Mr Sirika, wh...