Witness tells court Kogi LG funds routed through multiple private accounts
The trial of former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Adoza Bello, continued on Friday, 30 January 2026, before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Maitama, Abuja, with a prosecution witness testifying that deposits from Kogi State local governments were paid into multiple private bank accounts in a structured manner to evade regulatory reporting.
The seventh prosecution witness (PW7), Olomotane Egoro, a compliance officer with Access Bank Plc, told the court that the transactions were deliberately broken into amounts below the reporting threshold to avoid Currency Transaction Reports (CTR) to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).
Head, Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, in a statement on Friday, said Bello is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a 19-count charge bordering on money laundering involving the sum of ₦80,246,470,088.88.
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Witness tells court Kogi LG funds routed through multiple private accounts
Nkereuwem Effiong
The trial of former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Adoza Bello, continued on Friday, 30 January 2026, before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Maitama, Abuja, with a prosecution witness testifying that deposits from Kogi State local governments were paid into multiple private bank accounts in a structured manner to evade regulatory reporting.
The seventh prosecution witness (PW7), Olomotane Egoro, a compliance officer with Access Bank Plc, told the court that the transactions were deliberately broken into amounts below the reporting threshold to avoid Currency Transaction Reports (CTR) to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).
Head, Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, in a statement on Friday, said Bello is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a 19-count charge bordering on money laundering involving the sum of ₦80,246,470,088.88.
Led in evidence by prosecution counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, the witness identified Exhibit 33(5) and stated that the account was domiciled at the National Assembly Branch of Access Bank, Abuja. Explaining a transaction dated 21 March 2018, Egoro said it reflected a loan disbursement to a customer, with entries showing principal interest liquidation and final liquidation.
Egoro further examined transactions between 1 April and 21 May 2020, disclosing that on 1 April 2020, a cash deposit of ₦7,250,000 was made by Abigail Grace Amuda at the Lokoja Branch of Access Bank on Murtala Mohammed Way. He confirmed that 13 cash deposits were recorded on 8 April 2020, while additional deposits on 7 and 12 May 2020 brought the total number of deposits to 21.
According to the witness, all 21 cash deposits were made at the Lokoja Branch, with each transaction below ₦10 million. He explained that ₦10 million is the reporting threshold for corporate accounts, above which banks are required to file a CTR with the NFIU, adding that the deposits were structured to evade this requirement.
Although defence counsel, Abdulwahab Mohammed, SAN, objected to the line of questioning, Justice Nwite overruled the objection, noting that the witness was a professional competent to explain the issues before the court.
The witness also identified Exhibit 33(10) as the statement of account of Keyless Nature Limited, an Access Bank customer domiciled at the Lokoja Branch. He told the court that between 30 September 2021 and 23 February 2024, the account received multiple credit inflows of various amounts from different local government areas of Kogi State.
He further testified that immediately after the inflows from the local governments, funds were transferred out to another Keyless Nature Limited account domiciled outside Access Bank. He cited transactions dated 3 March, 4 April, 5 May, 3 June and 5 July 2022, which he said showed transfers from Keyless Nature Limited at Access Bank to Keyless Nature Limited at Fidelity Bank, following inflows from the local governments.
Egoro also identified Exhibit 33(4) as the statement of account of Hayzma Business Enterprise, domiciled at the Lokoja Branch of Access Bank. He said that on 28 August 2020, the account received 14 deposits from Kogi State local governments, while the outflows showed multiple cash withdrawals by one Yakubu Siyaka.
He told the court that in August 2020 alone, Hayzma Business Enterprise received ₦813,777,893.40 from several local governments, adding that between 20 August and 9 September 2020, a total of ₦546,628,000 was withdrawn in cash by Yakubu Siyaka within 12 days, all from the Lokoja Branch.
The witness further identified Exhibit 33(11) as another Keyless Nature Limited account domiciled at the Lokoja Branch. He explained that a transaction dated 14 December 2021, described as “principal disbursement,” was a loan disbursement of ₦2.1 billion from Access Bank to Keyless Nature Limited.
He added that withdrawals totalling ₦1,259,473,000 were made on 15 and 17 December 2021, while entries on 24 and 30 December 2021 showed multiple credit inflows from various local governments. According to him, such inflows continued into the account until 6 February 2024.
At the close of proceedings, defence counsel informed the court that the defence team required more time to review the documents tendered by the witness before cross-examination. The prosecution countered that the documents had been in the possession of the defence for over a year and that Certified True Copies had already been obtained.
Justice Nwite adjourned the matter until 4 and 5 February 2026 for the cross-examination of PW7 and continuation of the trial.
