Witness details how Kogi LGA funds allegedly serviced N2.1bn loan in Bello trial 

A prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of Yahaya Bello, former Governor of Kogi State, on Wednesday told the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja how funds from various Kogi State local government areas were allegedly used to service a N2.1 billion loan facility.

The witness, Olomotane Egoro, a compliance officer with Access Bank, testified before  Maryanne Anineh (Justice) that the loan, disbursed to Keyless Nature Limited in December 2021, was subsequently repaid through inflows traced to Kogi local government accounts, with repayments made in structured monthly instalments.

Egoro who is a tenth prosecution witness (PW10), testified under subpoena and gave a breakdown of transactions across several accounts tendered as exhibits by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Led in evidence by Kemi Pinheiro, prosecution counsel, Egoro told the court that a loan of N2.1 billion was disbursed into the account of Keyless Nature Limited on December 14, 2021, as reflected in Exhibit AU.

When asked whether the loan was utilised, he 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 inflows from various Kogi State local government accounts.

According to him, loan repayments made on January 14, February 14, March 14, April 14 and May 16, 2022, including interest, were funded from Kogi State local government areas.

“Up to December 2022, repayments were consistently made on the 14th of each month,” the witness said, adding that the pattern of repayment from local government sources remained unchanged.

On the account of Westwood Limited (Exhibit AJ), Egoro told the court that a principal loan of N818,698,262.29 was disbursed on March 21, 2018.

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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, while 20 similar cash deposits were made on May 7, 2020.

He noted that although the Westwood Motors account was domiciled at the National Assembly branch in Abuja, the “avalanche of cash deposits” made at the Lokoja branch was used to liquidate the loan.

The witness also identified Exhibit AH1 as the Kogi State Government House account opening package.

Reviewing entries between December 2018 and August 2019, he told the court there were “quite a number of inflows” followed by withdrawals.

He confirmed that the names Aminu Jimoh Olarenwaju and Abdulsalami Hudu appeared in the statements and were linked to multiple cash withdrawals.

“Yes, my lord, there were several cash withdrawals by Aminu Jimoh Olarenwaju and Abdulsalami Hudu,” he said, adding that withdrawals typically followed almost immediately after transfers into the account.

Referring to a transaction on December 24, 2018, Egoro said the bank filed a Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) because the transaction did not align with the customer’s profile.

“On January 15 and 16, 2019, he testified that Aminu Olarenwaju made 10 cash withdrawals of N10 million each per day, amounting to N100 million over the two days.

“On March 8, 2019, the same individual allegedly made another 10 withdrawals of N10 million each. Similarly, on August 1, 2019, Abdulsalami Hudu was said to have made 30 withdrawals of N10 million each, totalling ₦300 million.

“The pattern of such withdrawals followed immediately after there was money in the account,” the witness stated.

Turning to the account of Fazab Business Enterprise (Exhibit AP), Egoro testified that in May 2022, the account received several credit inflows from Kogi State local governments, followed by multiple withdrawals by one Yakubu Adabenege Siyaka.

He told the court that most of the withdrawals were structured “in order to evade the reporting requirements,” though the bank still filed an STR.

According to the witness, between June and July 2022, total inflows from various Kogi State local governments into the account amounted to N241,631,142.99, while total cash withdrawals by Siyaka stood at N203,900,000. He added that from June 2022 alone, N116,600,000 was withdrawn from an inflow of about N117.9 million.

A similar pattern was said to have occurred in the account of Hayzma Business Enterprise (Exhibit AO), where, in August 2022 and earlier in April 2021, multiple credits from Kogi local governments were followed by immediate cash withdrawals by Siyaka.

On the account of E-Traders International Limited (Exhibit AR), the witness said that between July 26 and December 30, 2021, as well as between January 18 and April 30, 2022, Abba Adaudu made multiple cash deposits at the Lokoja branch of Access Bank.

With respect to Keyless Nature Limited (Exhibit AT), Egoro told the court that from January to July 2022, the account received several inflows from Kogi State local governments.

He disclosed that transfers were made shortly after the inflows, including transfers to Keyless Fidelity, N20 million to Abba Adaudu, N80 million to another Keyless Nature account in Access Bank, and N20.5 million to Ejadams Essence Limited on November 1, 2022.

Under cross-examination by P.B. Daudu, , counsel to the first and second defendants, the witness confirmed that he was not the relationship manager of the Kogi State Government House account but a compliance officer and therefore not privy to its internal operations.

On Suspicious Transaction Reports, he stated that the bank maintains an internal record of filed reports but cannot make them public. “The law does not allow us to show it to the public,” he said.

He also affirmed that bank customers are entitled to withdraw their funds as long as such withdrawals do not violate the law.

Justice Anineh admitted a series of subpoenaed documents tendered by the prosecution as Exhibits AG, AH1, AH2, AJ, AK, AL, AM, AN, AO, AP, AQ, AR, AS, AT and AU, and adjourned the case to March 10, 11 and 12, 2026, for continuation of trial.

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