The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission presented additional bank records during the trial of former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello on allegations of ₦110.4 billion fraud. The proceedings occurred at the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja, involving co-defendants Umar Shuaibu Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu. The court adjourned the case to the following day.
On Thursday, the trial of Yahaya Adoza Bello, former governor of Kogi State, advanced with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) submitting new bank records at the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama, Abuja. Bello faces a 16-count charge of criminal breach of trust and money laundering, alongside Umar Shuaibu Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu. Justice Maryanne Anineh presided over the session, where prosecution counsel Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, led the examination of witnesses.
Prosecution Witness Six (PW6), Mashelia Arhyel Bata from Zenith Bank, underwent cross-examination regarding account statements. He detailed transactions such as a ₦10 million cheque to Abdulsalami Hudu on January 20, 2016, and a ₦2,454,400 payment to Halims Hotels and Tours in Lokoja. Bata also noted a ₦74.37 million inflow from the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service in December 2016, followed by ₦10 million outflows to Mohammed Jami’u Sallau. He clarified that transaction descriptions did not reveal specific purposes and confirmed withdrawals were authorized by officials like the Permanent Secretary and accountants.
The defence, represented by J.B. Daudu, SAN, for the first and second defendants, and Z.B. Abbas for the third, questioned the witness on account openings and security fund inflows between February and September 2016. The court rejected suggestions that the third defendant acted only officially.
Subsequently, Prosecution Witness Seven (PW7), Mohammed Bello Hassan from Keystone Bank, presented the 2021 account of Dantata and Sawoe Construction, showing ₦100 million in ₦10 million credits from Maigari Murtala and Yusuf Mubarak. PW8, Gabriel Ocha from FCMB, tendered documents for Kunfayakun Global Limited from 2018 to 2024, including a ₦30 million transfer to the American International School and multiple ₦10 million web transfers on November 1, 2021. PW9, A.D. Ojoma from Sterling Bank, submitted records for Bespoke Business Solutions Limited, highlighting hundreds of millions in credits from the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service in 2019.
Justice Anineh adjourned the trial to January 16, 2026, for continuation.
