Abuja Court Adjourns Yahaya Bello’s Trial To November 13

Justice Maryann Anenih of the Federal Capital Territory High Court on Wednesday adjourned the alleged money laundering trial of former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, to November 13, 2025.

Justice Anenih granted the adjournment following a request by the defendant’s lead counsel, Joseph Daudu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, to allow cross-examination of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) witness, Mshelia Arhyel Bata, a compliance officer at Zenith Bank.

At the resumed proceedings, Arhyel Bata, the sixth prosecution witness, provided details of deposits and withdrawals from the Kogi State Government House Administration Account between February 2016 and February 2018.

He confirmed multiple N10m transactions, totalling N1.09bn as of February 2, 2018, all within authorised withdrawal limits.

The witness noted that the first deposit into the account occurred on December 6, 2016, amounting to N74.378m. He also highlighted cash withdrawals totaling N30m in favor of Muhammed Jamiu Salau and confirmed inflows from the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service.

The EFCC counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, later presented Exhibit R1, the USD statement of account for Wales Oil and Gas, which showed an overseas transfer of $11,000 on November 12, 2021, credited to Farida Oricha via Corporate FX payment.

Arhyel Bata also reviewed Exhibit P1 En Bloc, relating to the USD domiciliary account of Aleshua Solutions Services Limited, confirming debit entries on items 1 and 13, noting that FX payments from the company were made in favour of the American International School.

At this stage, the defence requested an adjournment to enable cross-examination of the witness, which both parties agreed to.

Justice Anenih consequently adjourned the trial to tomorrow, November 13, for the witness’s cross-examination.

The witness had previously stated that prior to 2023, withdrawal limits were not strictly enforced as long as individual cheques did not exceed N10m.

He confirmed that the multiple N10m transactions were within the approved threshold, totaling N707,267,000 as of January 31, 2018.

Bello is also facing a separate trial at the Federal High Court, Abuja, for alleged N82bn money laundering.

On Tuesday, Justice Emeka Nwite adjourned the case to January 29 to enable his legal team to conclude the examination of the seventh witness presented by the EFCC, Olomotame Egoro, a Compliance Officer with Access Bank.