The trial of former Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, continued on Wednesday before Justice Maryanne Anineh of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Maitama, Abuja, with a prosecution witness alleging that a N2.1 billion loan was repaid using funds from Kogi State local government areas.
The tenth prosecution witness (PW10), Olomotane Egoro, a compliance officer with Access Bank, testified under subpoena and detailed what he described as movements of funds through multiple bank accounts.
Led in evidence by prosecution counsel, Kemi Pinheiro (SAN), Egoro told the court that a loan of N2.1 billion was disbursed into the account of Keyless Nature Limited on December 14, 2021.
“There was a loan disbursement credit of N2.1 billion into Keyless Nature Limited’s account,” he said.
Asked whether the loan was utilised, the witness responded, “Yes, it was utilised by the customer.”
He further testified that between December 24, 2021 and July 5, 2022, the account received multiple credit entries from various Kogi State local government accounts.
According to him, loan repayments were made on January 14, February 14, March 14, April 14 and May 16, 2022, including interest.
“The source of funds for the repayments came from Kogi State local government areas,” he said.
Egoro added that repayments continued consistently on the 14th of each month up to December 2022 and followed the same pattern.
On the account of Westwood Limited, the witness told the court that a principal loan of N818,698,262.29 was disbursed on March 21, 2018.
He said that on April 8, 2020, 15 cash deposits were made by several individuals at the Lokoja branch of Access Bank towards loan repayment. On May 7, 2020, another 20 cash deposits were made.
“The avalanche of cash deposits made at the Lokoja branch were used to liquidate the existing loan,” he said, noting that the account was domiciled at the National Assembly branch in Abuja.
Referring to the Kogi State Government House account, the witness said there were “quite a number of inflows” between December 2018 and August 2019, followed by withdrawals.
“Yes, my lord, there were several cash withdrawals by Aminu Jimoh Olarenwaju and Abdulsalami Hudu,” he testified.
He added that transfers into the account were often followed almost immediately by withdrawals.
On a transaction dated December 24, 2018, Egoro said the bank filed a Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit because the transaction did not align with the customer’s profile.
On January 15 and 16, 2019, he said Aminu Olarenwaju made 10 cash withdrawals of N10 million each on both days, totalling N100 million. Similar withdrawals occurred on March 8, 2019.
The witness also testified that on August 1, 2019, Abdulsalami Hudu made 30 cash withdrawals of N10 million each, totalling N300 million.
“The pattern of such withdrawals followed immediately after there was money in the account,” he said.
On the account of Fazab Business Enterprise, Egoro told the court that in May 2022, several credit entries were received from Kogi State local governments and were followed by withdrawals by Yakubu Adabenege Siyaka.
“Most of the withdrawals were structured in order to evade the reporting requirements,” he said, adding that the bank nonetheless filed an STR.
Between June and July 2022, he said the account received N241,631,142.99 from various local governments, while N203,900,000 was withdrawn in cash by Siyaka.
“The pattern was consistent. When funds were deposited by local governments, immediate cash withdrawals followed,” he told the court.
On the account of Hayzma Business Enterprise, the witness testified that several credits from Kogi local governments were received in August 2022, followed by withdrawals by Siyaka.
He also said that Keyless Nature Limited’s account received multiple credit entries from Kogi local governments between January and July 2022, after which transfers were made, including N20 million to Abba Adaudu and N80 million to another Keyless Nature account.
Under cross-examination by P.B. Daudu (SAN), counsel to the first and second defendants, Egoro confirmed that he was not the relationship manager of the accounts but a compliance officer.
He also stated that copies of Suspicious Transaction Reports could not be disclosed.
“No, my lord, the law does not allow us to show it to the public,” he said.
Justice Anineh adjourned the matter to March 10, 11 and 12, 2026, for continuation of trial.
