A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Maitama has postponed further proceedings in the trial of Yahaya Bello, former Kogi State governor, until Thursday to allow the defense to cross-examine the sixth prosecution witness.
Justice Maryanne Anenih approved the adjournment on Wednesday after Joseph Daudu (SAN), representing the defendant, made the request, which was not contested by Kemi Pinheiro (SAN), the prosecution’s counsel.
Daudu requested the postponement to prepare for cross-examining the witness, Mshelia Arhyel Bata, a Compliance Officer with Zenith Bank, who had given testimony under Pinheiro’s examination on Wednesday.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is prosecuting Bello alongside Umar Oricha, identified as Director General of Kogi State Government House, and Abdulsalami Hudu on 16 counts of alleged offenses.
The anti-graft agency’s charges include allegations of criminal breach of trust involving N110.4 billion.
During his testimony, Bata provided information about deposits and withdrawals from the Kogi State Government House Administration Account covering the period from February 2016 to February 2018.
The witness detailed numerous transactions valued at N10 million each, stating that these amounted to N1.09 billion as of February 2, 2018, with all transactions falling within permitted withdrawal limits.
Bata testified that the initial deposit into the account occurred on December 6, 2016, amounting to N74,378 million.
He also described cash withdrawals in N10 million increments totaling N30 million that were made in favor of Muhammed Jamiu Salau.
The witness verified that funds entered the Government House account from the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service.
EFCC Counsel Pinheiro then directed Bata’s attention to Exhibit R1, which was the statement of account in U.S. dollars for Wales Oil and Gas.
Bata verified an international transfer dated November 12, 2021, associated with the name Farida Oricha, described as a Corporate FX payment of $11,000.
The banking official was subsequently asked to examine Exhibit P1 En Bloc, representing the statement of account for Aleshua Solutions Services.
He confirmed it was a U.S. dollar domiciliary account held by Aleshua Solutions Services Limited and acknowledged debit transactions appearing in items 1 and 13.
Bata stated that foreign exchange payments from Aleshua Solutions were made to American International School.
Following this testimony, Defense Counsel Daudu requested an adjournment until the following day to conduct his cross-examination of the witness.
Both legal teams agreed to the request, and Justice Anenih scheduled the continuation for November 13 to allow for the cross-examination of the sixth witness.
During the previous court session, the witness had stated that prior to 2023, there were no stringent withdrawal restrictions provided the amount on the cheque did not exceed N10 million.
He had also acknowledged multiple N10 million transactions but confirmed they remained within authorized limits, calculating the total transactions as of January 31, 2018, at N707,267,000.
