An operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, John Justice, on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, told the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, High Court in Maitama, Abuja, that most of the funds credited to the account of companies under investigation in the alleged ₦110.4 billion fraud case involving former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello came from local government accounts in the state on a monthly basis.
Justice disclosed this while testifying as Prosecution Witness 20, PW20, in the ongoing trial of former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, before Justice Maryanne Anineh.
Bello is being prosecuted alongside Umar Shuaibu Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu on a 16-count charge bordering on criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving ₦110.4 billion.
Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, the witness said investigators requested records of inflows and outflows involving several companies as part of efforts to trace the movement of funds through their accounts.
According to him, the responses received from the banks were analysed, leading to the identification of Keyless Ventures as another company that benefited from proceeds traced to the companies.
He said the analysis of Forza Business Enterprise’s statement of account showed that most of the funds credited to the account came from Kogi State local government accounts on a monthly basis.
“Most of the funds coming into the account were funds from Kogi State Local Government accounts coming on monthly basis,” he said.
Justice further told the court that the investigators’ analysis showed that the companies received inflows from Kogi State, while the transactions were treated as cash withdrawals.
“Our analysis reveals that these companies were receiving inflow from Kogi State while transactions were treated as cash withdrawals,” he said.
He further said the Commission subsequently invited officials of Access Bank and Zenith Bank and requested CCTV footage because of the large volumes of cash recorded in the transactions.
According to him, the footage showed that the large sums recorded as withdrawals were not physically taken out of the banks.
Explaining the process, the witness said: “What this means is; a customer walks into the bank, he fills a cheque withdrawal and a deposit slip to a different account.” he said.
Earlier in his testimony, Justice told the court that the investigation followed intelligence received by the EFCC’s Procurement Fraud Section, PFS, concerning the activities of local governments in Kogi State.
He said the intelligence mentioned several companies, including Hayzma, Bibas Energy, Forza Oil and Gas, and Keyless Ventures.
The witness said investigators conducted Bank Verification Number, BVN, searches and wrote to the relevant banks for information. The responses received were subsequently analysed.
When prosecution counsel, Pinheiro, asked him to examine Exhibits AU, AT, AP and AO and confirm whether they related to the requests made during the investigation, Justice said the documents were connected to the case.
He identified Exhibit AO as relating to Hayzma Business Enterprise, Exhibit AT as Keyless Nature and Exhibit AP as Forza Business Enterprise.
He also told the court that a BVN search relating to Keyless Nature revealed the name Abba Adaudu, while earlier BVN searches had returned the names Yakubu Siyaka Adebenege and Iyadat Sa’adat.
Justice, who said he had been an EFCC operative for over nine years, told the court that he had received training at the EFCC Academy in asset tracing, internet fraud, anti-money laundering, advance fee fraud and other areas.
Asked whether he had participated in an investigation concerning the defendants, he answered in the affirmative.
He identified Emeka Okonjo, Adamu Umar, Hamza Lawal and Dauda Usman as members of the investigation team. He also mentioned the Chairman Monitoring Unit, CMU, which he said was headed by Adamu Tilde, with Audu Abubakar and Yazid Bawa among the team members.
Earlier in the proceedings, counsel to the first and second defendants, J.B. Daudu, SAN, and counsel to the third defendant, Z.E. Abbas, had concluded the cross-examination of PW19, Jamilu Abdullahi, a Bureau de Change operator.
Following the absence of a re-examination by the prosecution, Abdullahi was discharged after his testimony.
Justice Anineh thereafter adjourned the trial to November 24, December 2 and December 8, 2026, for continuation.
