A prosecution witness on Friday told the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) high court in Abuja that the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service (KIRS) paid over N1.16 billion as “commission” to a tax consultant within eight months in 2019 without breaching financial regulations.
The witness, David Ajoma, a compliance officer with Sterling
Bank, testified before Maryanne Anineh, presiding judge, in the ongoing trial
of Yahaya Bello, former governor of Kogi, and two others, over alleged money
laundering and criminal breach of trust amounting to N110.4 billion.
Ajoma said the payments were made between January and August
2019 into a Sterling Bank account belonging to Philip Kumar, adding that the
inflows were followed by heavy and consistent cash withdrawals.
“From the exhibit, Kogi State Internal Revenue Service paid
a total of N1,164,959,568.13 as commission within eight months in 2019,” the
witness told the court.
Led in evidence by Kemi Pinheiro, counsel to the Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ajoma confirmed that N953,404,000 was
withdrawn in cash from the account within the same period.
Asked to comment on the transaction pattern, the witness
said, “As a banker, there is a consistent pattern of withdrawals.”
Ajoma further told the court that prior to the inflows from
KIRS, the account had minimal activity, with no inflows recorded between July
and December 2018 and only small withdrawals during that period.
Under cross-examination by Joseph Daudu, counsel to Bello,
Ajoma admitted that he did not have the account opening documents and could not
determine the nature of the consultancy business or whether the transactions
were seasonal.
“I do not know the details of the business relationship
between Kogi State Internal Revenue Service and the account holder,” he said.
He also confirmed that no suspicious transaction report
(STR) was filed on the account, explaining that the withdrawals did not breach
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) regulations.
“For individuals, the maximum cash withdrawal is N5 million,
while for corporate entities it is N10 million,” Ajoma said, adding that the
withdrawals were within the permitted limits.
The witness further told the court that neither Bello nor
his co-defendants featured as beneficiaries in the bank statement tendered in
evidence.
He also acknowledged the distinction between the Kogi state
government and Kogi IRS, noting that the two are separate entities.
With no further questions, the judge discharged the witness
and adjourned the matter to February 10 and 11, as well as March 11 and 12,
2026, for continuation of trial.
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