In a fresh development at the Federal Capital Territory High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Thursday tendered additional Zenith Bank records as part of its ongoing prosecution in the ₦110.4 billion fraud and money-laundering trial of former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Adoza Bello, and his co-defendants.
The new documents were presented during the continued cross-examination of a Zenith Bank compliance officer, further intensifying scrutiny of financial transactions allegedly linked to the former governor’s administration. The case, presided over by Justice Maryanne Anineh, centres on 16 counts bordering on criminal breach of trust and money laundering.
Led by prosecution counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, the EFCC called its sixth witness, Mashelia Arhyel Bata, a compliance officer with Zenith Bank, who was questioned extensively on the bank statements and account records admitted as exhibits before the court.
During cross-examination by defence counsel Joseph Daudu, SAN, the witness was asked to clarify several entries contained in Exhibit S1, a statement of account previously tendered by the prosecution. Bata identified a cheque payment of ₦10 million dated January 20, 2016, made to one of the co-defendants, Abdulsalami Hudu.
He also confirmed another cheque payment of ₦2.45 million made on the same date to Halims Hotels and Tours, a hospitality firm based in Lokoja, Kogi State. However, the witness told the court that the bank statement did not disclose the purpose for which the funds were disbursed.
According to Bata, the narration column in the statement of account merely reflected the transactions without stating the reason or final utilisation of the payments, adding that compliance officers rely strictly on documented entries unless further information is officially supplied.
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The witness further identified Exhibit X1 as the account-opening package of a Zenith Bank account domiciled in Lokoja, explaining that the transaction records he reviewed commenced from November 2016, despite suggestions by the defence that the account existed earlier.
Bata also drew the court’s attention to a credit entry of ₦74,378,483.20 received on December 6, 2016, from the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service, followed by a cheque withdrawal of ₦10 million issued to Mohammed Jami’u Sallau, again without any stated transaction purpose on the bank records.
Under further questioning by counsel to another co-defendant, Z. B. Abbas, the compliance officer confirmed that all withdrawals from the account were executed through duly signed cheques and processed in line with standard banking procedures.
The EFCC maintains that the series of bank transactions form part of a broader financial trail allegedly linking public funds to unauthorised expenditures during Bello’s tenure as governor, a claim the defendants have continued to deny.
Justice Anineh subsequently adjourned the matter to a later date for continuation of trial, as the prosecution moves steadily to close its case in what remains one of Nigeria’s most closely watched high-profile corruption prosecutions.
