A Zenith Bank official told the court that all Kogi State transactions followed proper banking rules.
She confirmed Yahaya Bello’s name didn’t appear in any account linked to the alleged fraud case.
The fourth prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, has told the Federal High Court in Abuja that the financial transactions carried out by the Kogi State Government complied with banking regulations.
During cross-examination on Monday before Justice Emeka Nwite, the witness, Mshelia Arhyel Bata, who serves as a compliance officer with Zenith Bank, said that none of the withdrawals made from the state government’s account breached any banking or financial law. She further clarified that the name of the former governor, Yahaya Bello, was not listed as a beneficiary in any of the accounts presented as evidence.
The defence counsel, Joseph Daudu (SAN), drew attention to withdrawals made by one Umar Comfort Olufunke, which were not mentioned by the prosecution. Instead, the prosecution focused on transactions conducted by Abdulsalam Hudu, the cashier at the Kogi State Government House.
According to Bata, these withdrawals, often in sums of ten million naira, were carried out between December 2017 and April 2018 and were paid to different hotels within Kogi State. She also confirmed that another individual, identified as Alhassan Omakoji, made withdrawals between November 2021 and December 2022, none of which exceeded ten million naira per transaction.
The compliance officer stated that all the transactions were within the withdrawal limits set by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). She also admitted that she was unaware of any law dictating how a state government should spend its funds or manage its allocations. According to her, except for the names of beneficiaries such as hotels and contractors, there was no way to determine the purpose of each transaction.
After the cross-examination, the lead prosecution counsel, Kemi Pinheiro (SAN), told the court he had no further questions for the witness and requested that she be discharged. Bata had earlier testified that Yahaya Bello was neither a signatory to nor connected with any of the bank accounts tendered in evidence. She also reaffirmed that, after reviewing Exhibit 22A, spanning pages 24 to 413, the former governor’s name did not appear as a beneficiary in any financial transaction.
The trial continued with the testimony of the fifth prosecution witness, Jesutoni Akoni, a compliance officer from Ecobank Plc. Led in evidence by another prosecution counsel, Chukwudi Enebeli (SAN), Akoni confirmed that Ecobank had received a subpoena from the court and presented a statement of account belonging to Moses Ailetu Company, covering January 1 to January 31, 2016.
The document, accompanied by a certificate of identification, was admitted as Exhibit 29 after the defence raised no objection. When questioned, Akoni identified cash deposits ranging from three million to twenty million naira, totaling fifty-seven million naira. However, during cross-examination, he confirmed that none of the deposits were linked to Yahaya Bello.
“None of them carries the name Yahaya Bello,” the witness stated. He also admitted that it was not possible to determine the actual source of the deposits just by looking at the bank statement.
The prosecution later introduced its sixth witness, Mohammed Bello Hassan, a relationship officer with Keystone Bank. Hassan was asked to produce the statements of account of Dantata and Sawoe, which were admitted as evidence along with a certificate of identification.
Following that, a seventh witness, Olomotame Egoro, a compliance officer from Access Bank, appeared before the court. Led by Pinheiro (SAN), Egoro presented twelve sets of documents requested under subpoena, explaining that they included customer details from the account opening records.
While the defence counsel did not oppose the main account statements, Daudu (SAN) objected to additional attachments that were not explicitly requested by the court. After both parties debated the issue, the prosecution agreed to remove the documents deemed irrelevant.
Justice Emeka Nwite subsequently adjourned the trial to November 11, 2025, for continuation.
The proceedings marked another phase in the EFCC’s ongoing case against Yahaya Bello, as multiple bank officials continue to testify regarding the legality and traceability of the financial transactions carried out by the Kogi State Government during his tenure.
