Court Adjourns Agency, Yahaya Bello’s Case To November 12

Justice Maryann Anenih of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court has adjourned hearing in the alleged money laundering case instituted against the immediate past governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, to November 12 after the EFCC called its sixth witness.

When the case was called for the hearing yesterday, the prosecution called its fifth witness, Victoria Oluwafemi, a compliance officer with Polaris Bank.

The witness told the court the total credit to the account in question, which came from different senders, adding that the transfers from the account were in multiples of N10 million.

She said the total credit in November 2021 was N450 million.

When cross-examined by the counsel to the 1st defendant, Joseph Daudu (SAN), the witness admitted that she was not the accounts officer for the two accounts with her bank.

She admitted also that, because she was not the accounts officer or relationship manager, she did not know how the transactions on these accounts were carried out.

Counsel to the 2nd Defendant, AM Aliyu, while cross-examining the witness, said, “Look at the portion my learned brother showed you in Exhibit M. Does the name Abdulsalam Hudu not feature there?”

“That is correct. Abdulsalam Hudu’s name was not featured,” she responded.

The Sixth Prosecution Witness (PW6), Mshelia Arhyel B, was then called for cross-examination.

Daudu, SAN, told the court that he had not concluded the cross-examination of the same witness in another court on a similar subject matter.

The court, however, held that the matter before it was independent and that the Defence Counsel held the discretion to cross-examine or not.

The prosecution sought to tender certain documents through the subpoenaed witness during the proceeding.

Counsel to the first Defendant objected to the documents’ admissibility, arguing that they did not comply with the provisions of Sections 83 and 84 of the Evidence Act.

He further indicated his intention to address the Court more extensively on the points of objection later.

Counsel to the 2nd Defendant, Aliyu, also objected, relying on the same statutory grounds.

The prosecution counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, urged the court to discountenance the objections raised by the defence team and admit the documents in evidence.

The court admitted the document, a 218-page statement of account of Alusha Services, signed by the witness, Mshelia Arhyel, and marked P1 en bloc.

The prosecution posed similar questions to the same witness at the June 26, 2025, examination before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court.

He reiterated that, before 2023, there was no strict withdrawal limit as long as the amount written on the cheque did not exceed ₦10 million.

The EFCC counsel told the witness to examine the transactions from February 22nd, 23rd, and 25th, March 3rd, 2016, to May 6th, 2022.

He confirmed multiple transactions of N10 million each but admitted they were within the approval threshold, putting the total transactions as of January 31, 2018, at N707,267,000.

“Please confirm that, notwithstanding the multiple withdrawals made on the same day, they were all within the approved withdrawal threshold,” prosecution counsel said.

“Yes, my Lord,” the witness responded.

On the account statement of Aleshua Solutions Services and transactions from May 6, 2022, the witness said the first entry was a $2,500 transfer in favour of Aleshua Solutions Services by B.O. Rosemary Chukwuma.

“The second is a transfer in favour of Yau for $5,000. The third is also a cash transfer of $5,000 to Yau,” he stated.

The witness also confirmed certain transactions from the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service in December 2016, totalling N202 million.

The judge indicated that the session must end at 3 pm and adjourned the case to November 12 and 13, 2025, to continue the examination of the sixth witness.

At the preceding hearing, the third prosecution witness said the defendants did not breach banking regulations.

The witness, Williams Abimbola, a Compliance Officer with UBA, had also admitted not being the relationship or account manager of the Kogi Government House account, noting that the transactions were in line with stipulated guidelines.