The trial of former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Adoza Bello, before Justice Maryanne Anineh of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Maitama, Abuja, continued on Thursday, January 15, 2026, with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) tendering more bank records as evidence.
The EFCC is prosecuting Bello, alongside Umar Shuaibu Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu, on a 16-count charge bordering on criminal breach of trust and money laundering to the tune of ₦10.4 billion.
At the resumed trial on Thursday, the prosecution team, led by Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, informed the court that the case was slated for further cross-examination of Prosecution Witness Six (PW6), Mashelia Arhyel Bata, a compliance officer with Zenith Bank, who was present in court.
Cross-examining the witness, counsel to the first and second defendants, J.B. Daudu, SAN, requested Exhibit S1 and asked the witness to clarify his earlier testimony that the statement of account had eight columns. “At the beginning of your testimony, you said there are eight columns in the statement of account. By ‘description,’ what do you mean?” Daudu asked.
Responding, the witness said, “It is the description of the transaction, my Lord.” Referring to page three of Exhibit S1, the witness explained that the first column showed an entry dated January 20, 2016, with the description: “Cq 158 Abdulsalami Hudu for ₦10,000,000.”
He further pointed out another entry which read: “ZB chq 155 paid Halims Hotels and Tours, Lokoja, ₦2,454,400, my Lord.”
When asked if he knew the purpose for which the ₦10 million collected by Abdulsalami Hudu or the amount paid to Halims Hotels and Tours was used, the witness replied, “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.”
Daudu then requested Exhibit X1 and asked the witness to confirm whether his attention had been drawn to certain entries in the account.
The witness replied that it was the account opening document of a company with account number 1014878995, domiciled at the Lokoja branch of Zenith Bank.
Daudu further asked the witness to confirm whether there were 21 transactions between March 10 and March 12, 2016. The witness, however, responded that the entries he started with were from November 14, 2016. Directing the witness to December 6, 2016, Daudu asked him to read the entries. The witness stated that the first entry was a transfer from the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service, a credit of ₦74,378,483.20.
“The second entry on December 6, 2016, is a cheque paid to Mohammed Jami’u Sallau in the sum of ₦10,000,000, my Lord,” the witness said.
When asked whether the column stated the purpose of the payment, the witness answered, “No, my Lord. Sorry, my Lord, looking at the narration, I would not decide the reason for the payment.”
He added that the same applied to another credit entry of ₦10,000,000 in favour of Mohammed Jami’u Sallau.
Z. B. Abbas then cross-examined the witness on behalf of A. M. Aliyu, SAN, counsel to the 3rd defendant.
Abbas asked whether all withdrawals made by the 3rd defendant were by cheque. The witness answered, “Yes, my Lord, they were cheque withdrawals.” He further confirmed that the cheques were duly signed by the authorised signatories. Abbas also asked if Exhibit X1 was the statement of account of the Government House account, to which the witness responded in the affirmative.
On Exhibit X2, Abbas asked whether the 3rd defendant had been introduced to the bank as a civil servant and accountant. The witness answered, “Yes, my Lord, he is an accountant.”
Abbas then suggested that the 3rd defendant was merely carrying out his duty as an accountant. This drew an objection from prosecution counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, who argued that the witness was not a civil servant working for the Kogi State Government and therefore could not testify to that fact.
Justice Anineh sustained the objection.
When asked about the signatories to the account, the witness listed three individuals: Chris Onyepola, Permanent Secretary; Onyechukwu Daniel L., Chief Accountant; and Abdulsalami Hudu, Accountant.
“These three individuals are the signatories to the account,” the witness confirmed.
