Olomotane Egoro, the 10th prosecution witness for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the ongoing alleged money laundering trial of former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello, testified that cash withdrawals by the individuals mentioned in his evidence complied with Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) guidelines.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

Egoro, a Compliance Officer at Access Bank Plc who has been with the bank since May 2023, confirmed that one of the account signatories, Aminu Jimoh Olanrewaju—previously said to have withdrawn funds from the Kogi State Government House Administration Account—was a civil servant and Director of Accounts in the Kogi State Government.

He added that, as a bank official, he was not privy to how the funds were used beyond the details reflected in the transactions. He gave similar testimony before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The witness further stated that former Governor Bello was neither a local government chairman nor linked to any of the transactions presented in court. This included transactions between various Kogi Local Government Areas and entities such as Fazab Business Enterprise.

For instance, Egoro confirmed that a transaction dated May 6, 2022, involving N14,453,900.84, was for the supply of reading materials to Okene Local Government. Other payments covered items such as sporting equipment, agrochemicals, farm inputs, and medical consumables. He detailed that N10.6 million from Ibaji Local Government was for agrochemicals, N7.3 million from Mopa Muro Local Government was for relief materials, and N9.9 million from Ofu Local Government was also for agrochemicals.

During the examination-in-chief, the court admitted a subpoena signed by the Managing Director of Access Bank, which included account statements of the Kogi State Government House Administration from January 2016 to January 2024, as well as statements of companies including Westwood Motors Limited, Fozad Oil and Gas Limited, Bespoque Global Concept Limited, E-Traders International Limited, and Keyless Nature Limited.

Counsel to the 2nd and 3rd defendants, ZE Abbas, objected to the admissibility of the documents, arguing that the certificate of identification did not comply with the Evidence Act, promising to provide detailed reasons in his final written address. Prosecution counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, dismissed the objection as a fishing expedition, also noting she would address it in her final submission. Justice Maryann Anenih admitted the documents, stating that their evidential weight would be determined later if the objection was justified.

The Kogi Government House Account was marked as Exhibits AH1 and AH2, while statements of the 11 companies were labeled Exhibits AG to AR.

During testimony, Egoro confirmed credit inflows to the Kogi Government House Account from December 2018 to August 2019, as well as withdrawals by Aminu Jimoh Olanrewaju and Abdulsalami Hudu. He detailed that multiple cash withdrawals were made, including N10 million each between January 15 and 16, 2018 by Olanrewaju, and withdrawals on March 8 by Hudu. The bank had filed Suspicious Transaction Reports with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) in line with standard practice.

He also confirmed credit entries to Fazab Business Enterprise in May 2022, noting inflows from local government areas and withdrawals by Yakubu Siyaka Adabenege.

Under cross-examination, Egoro maintained that no laws were breached in any of the transactions, reiterating that all withdrawals complied with CBN guidelines.

Justice Anenih adjourned the trial to March 10–12, 2026, for continuation of the witness’s cross-examination.

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