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.
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