EFCC WITNESS CLEARS YAHAYA BELLO, LINKS LGAS FUNDS TO SUPPLIES AND SERVICES

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A person testifying against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) told the Federal Capital Territory High Court on Wednesday that money taken from several local government accounts in Kogi State was used to buy supplies and services for the councils that benefited.

The witness, Mr Olomotane Egoro, works as a compliance officer at Access Bank Plc and is the 10th prosecution witness in the EFCC case.
He gave his testimony during the ongoing trial of former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello.

Egoro told the court that over ₦109 million traced to various local government accounts was applied to the purchase of agrochemicals, medical consumables, sports materials and relief supplies.

At the start of proceedings, the witness tendered 13 exhibits, including account opening documents and statements of account relating to the Kogi State Government House Administration and some contractors linked to the transactions.

Counsel to the 2nd and 3rd defendants objected to the admissibility of the documents, arguing that the certificate of identification accompanying them did not comply with the provisions of the Evidence Act. The defence said detailed arguments would be presented in their final written addresses.

In response, prosecution counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, described the objection as premature and speculative, while also reserving his response until the final address stage. The court admitted the documents provisionally and ruled that their evidential value would be determined after arguments on the objections, in line with criminal trial procedure.

During examination-in-chief, Egoro outlined inflows and outflows from the Kogi State Government House Administration account and testified on Exhibit AP, which contains the bank records of Fazab Business Enterprise covering transactions between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2024.

Under cross-examination by Paul Daudu, SAN, the witness confirmed that Fazab Business Enterprise had contractual relationships with several local government councils.

He said the payments made to the company were linked to the procurement of educational materials, medical consumables, agricultural inputs and relief materials, including supplies for councils affected by the 2022 flood disaster.

Egoro acknowledged that he was not the account relationship manager for either the local government accounts or the accounts of the contractors involved in the transactions.

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He also confirmed that Bello did not serve as chairman of any local government during the period covered by the bank records.

When asked about specific transactions, the witness said that a payment of £14,453,900.84 made on May 6, 2022, was for providing reading materials to Okene Local Government Area. He also explained other transactions, their descriptions, and the reasons for each payment to different councils.

During his whole testimony, the witness never said that Bello was a person who received money or signed off on any of these payments.

For transactions related to Westwood Motors Limited, Egoro pointed to Exhibit AJ and told the court that several cash deposits were made into the company’s account by local governments.
These deposits were noted in the bank records as loan repayments.