Yahaya Bello’s Alleged N80.2bn Fraud : How N1.09bn Vanished from Kogi Govt’s Account in Three Days –Witness

A prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Adoza Bello, on Thursday, June 26, 2025, narrated before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja, how a staggering ₦1,096,830,000 (One Billion, Ninety-Six Million, Eight Hundred and Thirty Thousand Naira) was withdrawn in just three days from the Kogi State Government House’s Administration Account.

The witness, Mashelia Arhyel Dada, a compliance officer with Zenith Bank, Maitama Branch, testified as Prosecution Witness Four (PW4) under subpoena. He gave a detailed account of massive cash withdrawals allegedly carried out between 2016 and 2023, using multiple bank instruments and channels.

Led in evidence by prosecuting counsel, prof. Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, Dada said the records he presented were among seven sets of documents submitted in compliance with a subpoena addressed to the bank’s Managing Director.

The subpoena was admitted as Exhibit 20, while related documents covering account holders and corporate entities were admitted as Exhibits 21 through 24C.

Among the accounts examined were those belonging to Adamu Jagafa Ishaya, Whales Oil and Gas, Jimeda Properties Nigeria Limited, Alyeshua Solutions, and notably, the Kogi State Government House’s Administration Account.

Focusing on the Kogi State Government House’s Administration Account, Pinheiro highlighted a pattern of cash withdrawals that blatantly violated the Central Bank of Nigeria’s, CBN, cashless policy. According to Dada, the CBN had placed cash withdrawal limits at ₦500,000 for individuals and ₦5,000,000 for corporate or government entities during the relevant period. Exceeding these limits attracted surcharges.

Dada testified that between January 30 and February 1, 2018, a total of ₦697,267,000 was withdrawn in ₦10 million tranches through cheques issued in the name of one Abdulsalami Hudu. Then, on February 2, 2018, an additional ₦99,573,000 was withdrawn in similar tranches and several other withdrawals totalling N1.09bn within three days.

The prosecution also revealed that on February 1, 2018, a transfer of ₦3,325,000 was made from the same Kogi Government account to one Ali Bello.

Dada further disclosed that this pattern of suspicious transactions continued in subsequent years.

On May 6, May 11, and May 19, 2022, the same account received ₦100 million on each date from the Kogi State Statutory Revenue Account. These inflows were immediately followed by multiple cash withdrawals in ₦10 million tranches, primarily by Abdulsalami Hudu and another named beneficiary, Alhassan Omakoji.

Referring to pages 395 to 401 of the account statement, the witness confirmed that almost every credit inflow was followed by immediate debits via cheque withdrawals made out to the same individuals, sometimes on the same day.

Dada further narrated that on September 7, 2023, the account recorded 11 cash withdrawals of ₦10 million each, far above the ₦5 million limit, attracting a surcharge of ₦500,000 per transaction. This resulted in a total surcharge of ₦4,750,000 for that day alone.

In another instance, on January 20, 2018, the account received 10 separate credits from the Kogi State Statutory Account totaling over ₦697 million.

These were again followed by a series of ₦10 million withdrawals issued to Hudu and others. On January 31, Hudu alone reportedly collected ₦347,267,000 in 36 separate cash withdrawals.

Pinheiro also tendered the account opening documents from pages 2 to 23 of Exhibit 22A, and the bank statement from pages 24 to 413, with the earliest transaction dating back to February 12, 2016.

Dada described the six standard columns on the statement, date posted, value date, transaction description, debit, credit, and balance, and explained various transaction types, including NEFT and NIP transfers.

Although the defence team, led by J.B. Daudu, SAN, earlier objected to the admissibility of some documents but chose to reserve their arguments till a later date.

Justice Emeka Nwite admitted all documents and marked them accordingly.

The matter was thereafter adjourned to Friday, June 27, 2025, for cross-examination and continuation of trial.