‘N80.2bn fraud’: Kogi government withdrawals under Yahaya Bello didn’t breach banking laws, witness tells court

A witness of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has told a federal high court in Abuja that withdrawals made by the Kogi state government during the regime of Yahaya Bello, the former governor, did not violate any banking regulation.

Mshelia Bata, a compliance officer with Zenith Bank, appeared as the fourth prosecution witness in the ongoing money laundering trial of Bello.

Bello is facing a 19-count charge of alleged money laundering amounting to N80.2 billion.

During cross-examination on Monday before Emeka Nwite, the presiding judge, Bata said Bello’s name did not appear as a beneficiary in the state account tendered as evidence.

Joseph Daudu, counsel to Bello, drew the witness’s attention to withdrawals by one Umar Olufunke, which were not mentioned in the prosecution’s case.

The prosecution had previously highlighted withdrawals made by Abdulsalam Hudu, cashier at the Kogi government house, in tranches of N10 million between December 2017 and April 2018.

Bata said the payments went to various hotels in the state. The hotels mentioned include Idrinana Hotels, Edge Drive Hotels, JF Hotels, May Treasure Resort, Halims Hotels, Nostalgia Suites, and Hope Confluence Hotels.

He also confirmed withdrawals by another official, Alhassan Omakoji, between November 2021 and December 2022, none of which exceeded the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) cash limit.

The witness said he was not aware of any law that regulates how Kogi state government spends its money or allocation, adding that he could not determine the purpose of the transactions beyond the listed beneficiaries.

The witness was later discharged after the prosecution said it had no further questions.

Also, EFCC’s fifth witness, Jesutoni Akoni, a compliance officer with Ecobank, tendered account statements of Moses Ailetu covering January to December 2016, which were admitted in evidence as ‘exhibit 29’.

Akoni identified several deposits made by Ailetu, Abdulwahab Sabo, and Shehu Bello, among others, which ranged from N3 million to N20 million.

Other witnesses from Keystone Bank and Access Bank also presented various account statements and documents subpoenaed by the court.

Defence counsel objected to some “extraneous” attachments, prompting the prosecution to detach them.

The judge adjourned the case to November 11 for continuation of trial.

Previously in a sister case at the federal capital territory (FCT) high court, a witness of the EFCC had said all transactions involving the United Bank for Africa (UBA) were conducted in line with established banking regulations.

Williams Abimbola, a compliance officer with UBA, said no rule was breached during the series of cash withdrawals linked to the Kogi government house account domiciled in Lokoja, the state capital.

In that case, Bello is facing money laundering allegations to the tune of N110 billion.