The Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday, adjourned the alleged money laundering trial of former Gov. Yahaya Bello of Kogi until Jan. 29 for continuation of trial.
Justice Emeka Nwite adjourned the matter to allow the EFCC’s 7th prosecution witness (PW-7), Olomotame Egoro, who was being led in evidence by its lawyer, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, to conclude his testimony.
When the matter was called for continuation of trial, Pinheiro sought to tender some documents marked as Exhibits 33 (1–11) and 34, while leading the witness in evidence.
But counsel who appeared for former governor, Abdullahi Yahaya, SAN, interjected.
He noted that the exhibits being presented by the prosecution and its witness were not known to the defendant.
He further argued that the certificate of identification attached to the documents before the court was signed by one Faruk Idiaro and not the witness in the witness box.
He said that the defendant was served with a proof of evidence that was not the same as what the witness tendered.
Responding, Pinheiro said the certificate of identification might be different, but the substantive documents attached to it were the same.
He urged the court to stand down the matter to enable the defence team to confirm that the documents referred to in the certificate of identification were the same documents tendered.
The court stood down briefly and asked the parties to sort out their differences.
When the case was recalled, the PW-4, Egoro, who is a compliant officer with Access Bank Plc, gave his testimony.
While being led in evidence-in-chief by Pinheiro, Egoro confirmed that there were seven columns in the statement of account that was tendered and explained what the different columns stood for.
He was taken through the account statement of the Kogi State Government House Administration from December 2018 to August 2021.
The witness identified cash payments on Dec. 21, 2018 to one Aminu J.O, totaling N50 million in tranches of N10 million each.
He also pointed out withdrawals in multiples of N10 million in favour of Abdulsalam Hudu on Aug. 1, 2019.
The prosecution also asked the witness to go through Exhibit 33-8, a statement of Fazac Business Enterprise, from Jan. 1, 2019 to Dec. 31, 2022.
The PW-7 identified inflows ranging from N4.49 million to N14.45 million from local governments of the state, on May 6, 2022.
He said there were two inflows of N7.12 million and N9.4 million from two local government areas on May 9, 2022.
He equally confirmed the withdrawals from the account.
Justice Nwite, after some hours, adjourned the case until Jan. 29, Jan. 30, 2026 and Feb. 4 and Feb. 5, 2026, for continuation of trial.
It would be recalled that the EFCC’s 4th prosecution witness, Mshelia Arhyel Bata, had, on Monday, re-affirmed that fund withdrawals by the Kogi government did not breach any banking law.
Bata, a compliance officer with Zenith Bank, told the court while being cross-examined by the defendant’s lawyer, Joseph Daudu, SAN.
The witness also reiterated that the name of the former governor did not appear as beneficiary in the account presented as evidence by the anti-graft agency.(NAN)
