Alleged ₦110.4bn Fraud: Witness Details How Funds Were Diverted from Kogi State Government Account

 

The trial of former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Adoza Bello, continued on Wednesday, October 8, 2025, at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Maitama, Abuja, where the third prosecution witness, Abimbola Williams, a compliance officer with United Bank for Africa (UBA), gave a detailed account of how large sums of money were allegedly siphoned from the coffers of the Kogi State government through massive cash withdrawals. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is prosecuting Bello alongside two others, Umar Shuaibu Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu, on a 16-count charge bordering on criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving a staggering N110.4 billion.

Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, Williams narrated before Justice Maryanne Anineh how huge amounts were withdrawn in multiple tranches from the Kogi State Government account under suspicious circumstances. According to her, the withdrawals were carried out over several months and were made mostly through cheques issued in the name of one Abdulsalam Gudu, believed to be an associate of the accused. She disclosed that the transactions took place between December 2018 and August 2019, and that all the details were contained in a 251-page statement of account provided by UBA to the EFCC as part of its investigation.

In her testimony, the witness explained that on December 12, 2018, there were ten separate debit transactions from the Kogi State Government account. Each transaction was made through a cheque withdrawal of N10 million in favor of Abdulsalam Gudu, bringing the total amount withdrawn on that single day to N100 million. She further stated that on January 4, 2019, four additional cheque withdrawals were made in Gudu’s name — N10 million, N8.5 million, N7.35 million, and N4.15 million respectively. Similar patterns of withdrawals, she said, continued throughout the early months of 2019.

Williams continued that on January 8, 2019, three more cheques were presented and cleared in favor of the same beneficiary — N8 million, N6.5 million, and N5.5 million. On January 11, 2019, there were five cheque withdrawals of N10 million each, amounting to another N50 million. A few days later, on January 16, another set of five cheques of N10 million each were withdrawn. The same trend repeated on January 21, 2019, with five more cheques of N10 million each, totaling N50 million. According to her, the frequency and consistency of these transactions raised red flags, as they represented massive outflows of public funds in cash over a short period.

Continuing her testimony, Williams said that on February 20, 2019, there were yet again five cheque withdrawals of N10 million each, amounting to N50 million, all payable to Abdulsalam Gudu. On March 7, 2019, there were ten separate cheque withdrawals of N10 million each, totaling another N100 million. Later, on May 27, 2019, ten more cheques were issued in favor of the same individual, also amounting to N100 million. The most astonishing revelation, however, came when she disclosed that between July 31 and August 6, 2019 — a span of just seven days — there were 64 separate transactions of N10 million each, summing up to a staggering N640 million. All these withdrawals, she testified, came directly from the Kogi State Government House account held with UBA.

According to Williams, the transactions showed a clear pattern of systematic depletion of state funds through repeated high-value cash withdrawals that lacked any legitimate explanation or supporting documentation. The bank, she said, complied with the EFCC’s request for records and submitted the full 251-page account statement detailing all the withdrawals in question. The EFCC believes the funds were diverted for personal and political purposes linked to the defendants, in violation of financial regulations and anti-money laundering laws.

Following Williams’ testimony, the prosecution called its fourth witness, Jesutomi Akonni, a compliance officer with Ecobank, who also gave evidence on related financial transactions involving one of the individuals connected to the case. Akonni testified on the account statement of a certain Moses Wanzo, which was marked as Exhibit H in court. She explained that her role as a compliance officer was to monitor and report suspicious transactions in line with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s anti-money laundering guidelines. According to Akonni, the account records of Wanzo revealed several suspicious deposits between February and March 2016 that warranted further scrutiny.

She told the court that on February 22, 2016, there was a cash deposit of N15 million into Wanzo’s account by one Abdulwahab Sabo. A few weeks later, on March 21, 2016, another individual, Shehu Bello, deposited N20 million into the same account. Barely nine days later, on March 30, 2016, Shehu Bello again deposited N19 million. Akonni said these deposits raised red flags because of their frequency, size, and the cash-based nature of the transactions, all of which were inconsistent with normal personal or business banking activity. The EFCC has linked these accounts and deposits to the wider money-laundering scheme under investigation.

During the proceedings, counsel to the first defendant, J.B. Dauda, SAN, addressed the court and noted that the prosecution had indicated its intention to call a total of sixteen witnesses in the course of the trial. However, he drew the attention of the court to a pending application challenging the jurisdiction of the court to hear the case. According to Dauda, the application was filed on September 26, 2025, and it raised critical legal questions that should be resolved before the trial could proceed further. He argued that jurisdiction is a fundamental issue in law and that proceeding without addressing it would amount to a miscarriage of justice.

In response, prosecution counsel Kemi Pinheiro opposed the application, describing it as a delaying tactic by the defence. He argued that the trial had been ongoing for nearly a year and that the sudden introduction of a jurisdictional challenge at this stage was both self-serving and inconsistent with the spirit of justice. Pinheiro insisted that the defendants had ample time earlier in the proceedings to raise such objections and that bringing it up now was only meant to stall the progress of the trial. He urged the court to dismiss the application and allow the matter to continue to its logical conclusion without unnecessary delay.

The presiding judge, Justice Maryanne Anineh, listened to both sides attentively and noted the submissions of counsel. She then adjourned the proceedings to continue the next day, Thursday, October 9, 2025, for further hearing and continuation of the prosecution’s case.

The EFCC’s case against Yahaya Bello has drawn significant public attention, given the enormous sums involved and the fact that it concerns alleged financial crimes committed during his tenure as governor of Kogi State. Bello, who served as governor from 2016 to 2024, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, claiming that the charges are politically motivated. However, the commission maintains that it has substantial evidence showing how billions of naira belonging to the Kogi State government were diverted through various channels, including cash withdrawals, proxy accounts, and fictitious transactions.

The trial is expected to continue with more witnesses and documentary evidence as the EFCC seeks to establish a case of large-scale corruption, misappropriation, and money laundering against the former governor and his co-defendants. The proceedings will determine whether Bello and the others are guilty of the financial misconduct alleged or whether they can successfully defend themselves against the weight of the evidence presented by the prosecution.