The trial of the immediate past governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, commenced on Monday before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja, with the first prosecution witness, Segun Joseph Adeleke, telling the court that Yahaya Bello’s name did not appear on any of the two properties being examined on Monday.
The witness, who is the General Manager of Efab Properties Limited, told the court that he did not see Yahaya Bello throughout the transactions on the said properties.
When the counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Dr Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, called the witness, the defendant’s counsel, Joseph Daudu, SAN, objected, saying that the witness’s name was not included in the initial list of witnesses provided by the prosecution. This, he said, could affect his cross-examination.
The trial, however, proceeded, and the witness told the court what he knew about a property at No. 1, Ikogosi Street, Maitama, and another one in Gwarinpa.
Adeleke told the court that the name of the former governor did not appear on any of the two properties and that he did not see him throughout the transactions.
Giving an account of what transpired, he said that sometime in 2020, his chairman, Chief Fabian Nwora, introduced him to a young man, Shehu Bello, and they had a discussion concerning the purchase of the property.
“We had a discussion concerning the purchase of the property in question. And he told me that the young man would be coming back to make payment for the property at an agreed price of ₦550 million,” he said.
When asked if he had seen Shehu Bello since that day, he said, “I saw him three times. The first time was during the introduction, the second time for payment, and the third time was when he brought a legal document for the execution of the Efab Properties.”
The EFCC lawyer then mentioned another property—House 12, 59 Crescent, 5th Avenue in Gwarinpa, Abuja—and told the witness to tell the court what he knows about it.
Responding, the witness said the property was purchased by one Nuhu Mohammed for ₦70 million and was paid for through a bank transfer. When asked if he could remember which bank the money came from, he said no.
Under cross-examination by the counsel to the defendant, Joseph Daudu, SAN, the witness told the court that his actions in the transactions on the two properties were purely based on the instructions of his chairman and that he did not initiate any discussion with Shehu Bello on his own.
On the documents signed for the transactions, the defendant’s counsel asked the witness if he could confirm that Shehu Bello signed his own part in his presence, to which he said, “He did not, my Lord.”
Daudu asked him if he saw Yahaya Bello throughout the transaction, and he said, “Not at any time in the course of this transaction,” and that the former governor’s name did not appear anywhere on the title documents of the properties before the EFCC.
The second prosecution witness, who was a subpoenaed witness, identified herself as Williams Abimbola, a compliance officer with United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc.
The witness read out the documents the subpoena, marked as “Exhibit 1”, asked for, including the statement of account of Kogi State Government House from January 1, 2016, to January 31, 2024. The statements of account of Maselina Njoku from January 1 to December 31, 2022, were also admitted in evidence, including the account opening packages of American International School and statements of accounts from September 1 to September 30, 2020.
