Justice Maryann Anenih of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court has postponed the hearing in the alleged money laundering case involving former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello to November 12, following the testimony of the prosecution’s sixth witness.
During yesterday’s session, the prosecution presented its fifth witness, Victoria Oluwafemi, a compliance officer at Polaris Bank. She detailed the total credits made to the account under scrutiny, noting that funds were received from various sources and that withdrawals frequently occurred in increments of ₦10 million.
Ms. Oluwafemi revealed that the account received a total credit of ₦450 million in November 2021 alone.
Under cross-examination by Joseph Daudu (SAN), representing the first defendant, the witness conceded that she was neither the account officer nor the relationship manager for the two accounts in question, and therefore lacked direct knowledge of how the transactions were executed.
Further questioning by AM Aliyu, counsel for the second defendant, focused on Exhibit M. When asked if the name Abdulsalam Hudu appeared in the document, the witness confirmed it did not.
The court then called the sixth prosecution witness, Mshelia Arhyel B, for cross-examination. Daudu informed the court that his cross-examination of this witness on a related matter in another court was still ongoing. However, the judge clarified that the current case was separate and left it to the defense counsel’s discretion whether to proceed with cross-examination.
During proceedings, the prosecution sought to introduce several documents through the subpoenaed witness. The defense for the first defendant objected, citing non-compliance with Sections 83 and 84 of the Evidence Act, and indicated plans to elaborate on these objections later. The second defendant’s counsel echoed similar objections based on the same legal provisions.
Prosecution counsel Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, urged the court to overrule these objections and admit the documents into evidence. The court subsequently admitted a 218-page statement of account for Alusha Services, signed by Mshelia Arhyel and marked as Exhibit P1 en bloc.
Mshelia Arhyel reiterated during her testimony that prior to 2023, there was no stringent withdrawal limit provided the cheque amount did not exceed ₦10 million. She confirmed multiple transactions of ₦10 million each between February 22, 2016, and May 6, 2022, all within the authorized withdrawal limits, with total transactions amounting to ₦707,267,000 as of January 31, 2018.
When questioned about specific transactions on the Aleshua Solutions Services account, she identified a $2,500 transfer from B.O. Rosemary Chukwuma, followed by two separate $5,000 transfers to an individual named Yau, one of which was a cash transfer.
Additionally, the witness confirmed that the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service made payments totaling ₦202 million in December 2016.
Justice Anenih announced that the session would conclude by 3 pm and adjourned the case to November 12 and 13, 2025, for the continuation of the sixth witness’s examination.
At the previous hearing, the third prosecution witness, Williams Abimbola, a Compliance Officer at UBA, testified that the defendants adhered to banking regulations. He also clarified that he was not the relationship or account manager for the Kogi Government House account and affirmed that the transactions complied with established guidelines.
