A prosecution witness of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday told the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court that funds drawn from several local government accounts in Kogi State were used for the procurement of supplies and services for the benefiting councils.
The witness, Mr Olomotane Egoro, a compliance officer with Access Bank Plc and the EFCC’s 10th prosecution witness (PW10), gave the testimony in the ongoing trial of a former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello.
Egoro told the court that over ₦109 million traced to various local government accounts was applied to the purchase of agrochemicals, medical consumables, sports materials and relief supplies.
At the start of proceedings, the witness tendered 13 exhibits, including account opening documents and statements of account relating to the Kogi State Government House Administration and some contractors linked to the transactions.
Counsel to the 2nd and 3rd defendants objected to the admissibility of the documents, arguing that the certificate of identification accompanying them did not comply with the provisions of the Evidence Act. The defence said detailed arguments would be presented in their final written addresses.
In response, prosecution counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, described the objection as premature and speculative, while also reserving his response until the final address stage. The court admitted the documents provisionally and ruled that their evidential value would be determined after arguments on the objections, in line with criminal trial procedure.
During examination-in-chief, Egoro outlined inflows and outflows from the Kogi State Government House Administration account and testified on Exhibit AP, which contains the bank records of Fazab Business Enterprise covering transactions between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2024.
Under cross-examination by Paul Daudu, SAN, the witness confirmed that Fazab Business Enterprise had contractual relationships with several local government councils.
He said the payments made to the company were linked to the procurement of educational materials, medical consumables, agricultural inputs and relief materials, including supplies for councils affected by the 2022 flood disaster.
Egoro acknowledged that he was not the account relationship manager for either the local government accounts or the accounts of the contractors involved in the transactions.
He also confirmed that Bello did not serve as chairman of any local government during the period covered by the bank records.
When directed to specific transactions, the witness confirmed that a payment of ₦14,453,900.84 made on May 6, 2022, was for the supply of reading materials to Okene Local Government Area. He similarly identified other transactions, their descriptions and stated purposes for different councils.
Throughout his testimony, the witness did not link any of the transactions to Bello as a beneficiary or as a signatory who authorised the payments.
On transactions involving Westwood Motors Limited, Egoro identified Exhibit AJ and told the court that several cash deposits were made into the company’s account by local governments and described in the bank records as loan repayments.
He did not present any evidence connecting Bello to those transactions.
The trial was adjourned to March 10, 11 and 12 for continuation.
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