The trial of a former Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, has continued before Justice Maryanne Anineh of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Maitama, Abuja, with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) tendering fresh bank documents to further substantiate its case of alleged massive fraud against the ex-governor and his co-defendants.
Bello, who is standing trial alongside Umar Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu on a 16-count charge bordering on criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving alleged public funds running into ₦110.4 billion. The defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
At the resumed hearing on Thursday, prosecuting counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, told the court that proceedings were scheduled for the continuation of cross-examination of Prosecution Witness Six (PW6), Mashelia Arhyel Bata, a compliance officer with Zenith Bank.
During cross-examination by defence counsel, J.B. Daudu, SAN, who appeared for the first and second defendants, the witness was asked to clarify his earlier testimony on the contents of Exhibit S1, a bank statement. Bata explained that the “description” column in the statement reflected the nature of each transaction, citing entries including a ₦10 million cheque issued to Abdulsalami Hudu on January 20, 2016, and another payment of ₦2,454,400 to Halims Hotels and Tours, Lokoja.
When asked if he knew the purpose for which the funds were expended, the witness said he had no knowledge of how the monies were utilised. “I won’t know the purpose the ₦10,000,000 collected by Hudu and equally that of Halims Hotels, how it was spent and for which purpose,” he told the court.
Daudu further drew the witness’s attention to Exhibit X1, identified as the account opening package of a company account domiciled at Zenith Bank’s Lokoja branch. The witness confirmed multiple transactions on the account, including credits from the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service and several ₦10 million cheque payments to individuals, while maintaining that the narrations did not disclose the specific purposes of the payments.
Cross-examined by Z.B. Abbas on behalf of the third defendant, the witness confirmed that withdrawals from the Government House account were made by cheque and duly authorised by the signatories, whom he listed as the Permanent Secretary, the Chief Accountant and Abdulsalami Hudu, an accountant. He also confirmed several inflows described as “security fund” and “His Excellency Special Sec Vote,” followed by withdrawals made shortly after.
An attempt by defence counsel to suggest that the third defendant merely acted in his official capacity as an accountant drew an objection from the prosecution, which was upheld by Justice Anineh.
Following the discharge of PW6, the prosecution called Prosecution Witness Seven (PW7), Mohammed Bello Hassan, an executive trainee with Keystone Bank, who appeared pursuant to a subpoena. Through him, the EFCC tendered bank statements and related documents of Dantata and Sawoe Construction for the period covering January to December 2021.
PW7 testified that the account reflected multiple ₦10 million credit transactions in February 2021, amounting to ₦100 million, traced to transfers by Maigari Murtala and Yusuf Mubarak. Under cross-examination, he admitted that he was not the account officer and had no personal knowledge of the individuals involved.
The prosecution also called Prosecution Witness Eight (PW8), Gabriel Ocha, a compliance officer with First City Monument Bank (FCMB), who produced records relating to Kunfayakun Global Limited. He identified several high-value transactions in November 2021, including a ₦30 million payment to the American International School and multiple web and NIBSS transfers running into tens of millions of naira.
Prosecution Witness Nine (PW9), A.D. Ojoma, a compliance officer with Sterling Bank, equally tendered documents relating to Bespoke Business Solutions Limited. He identified significant credit inflows from the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service in 2019, including payments of over ₦138 million, ₦136 million and ₦183 million, as well as a ₦242.25 million transaction described as payment for the purchase of OBPEH.
At the close of proceedings, Justice Anineh adjourned the matter till Friday, for the continuation of trial.
