By Nkechi Eze
The trial of former Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, continued on Monday before Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Maitama, Abuja, with a prosecution witness narrating how a property in Wuse II, Abuja, was sold for ₦650 million during a transaction linked to the ongoing case.
Bello is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a 19-count charge bordering on alleged money laundering amounting to ₦80,246,470,088.88.
Testifying as the 11th prosecution witness (PW11), lawyer James Bem Igbakymeh told the court that in October 2021, his client instructed him to sell a property located at Plot 1058, Cadastral Zone A08, Wuse II, Abuja.
According to him, he placed a banner on the property to attract potential buyers, after which a man identified as Shehu Bello contacted him and requested to meet for negotiations.
“He inquired about my office and came to meet me to negotiate for the purchase of the property,” the witness told the court.
Igbakymeh explained that after negotiations, both parties agreed on a purchase price of ₦650 million. He further stated that the money was paid into three designated accounts provided by his client.
“My lord, the monies were paid into three designated accounts — SFC Foods Limited in Polaris Bank, JIT Agric Limited in Polaris Bank, and SFC Foods Limited in Heritage Bank,” he said.
The witness told the court that the payments were made through various bureau de change operators before the property documents were eventually handed over to the buyer.
He also revealed that investigators from the EFCC later invited him during the course of their investigation into the matter.
“Sometime after the completion of the transaction, I received a call from one Mohammed from the EFCC office in Lagos informing me that they were investigating a matter in which I had featured prominently and asking me to meet them at their Wuse II office in Abuja,” he said.
According to him, he honoured the invitation, wrote a statement and submitted relevant transaction documents to the Commission.
When shown the Offer Letter and Deed of Assignment relating to the transaction, Igbakymeh confirmed that he could identify them.
“The letter was written by me and the Deed of Assignment was the one we signed. I can see the signature of my client and mine,” he said.
The prosecution subsequently tendered the documents as evidence. Although the defence reserved its objections until the final written address, Justice Nwite admitted the Deed of Assignment and the Offer Letter as Exhibits 44 and 45 respectively.
However, when asked to examine the last page of Exhibit 45, the witness noted that the name listed as the assignee was Ali Bello. Asked whether Ali Bello and Shehu Bello were the same person, he replied, “No.”
Explaining the discrepancy, the witness said both men had appeared together during negotiations for the property.
“My lord, during the course of the transaction, Shehu Bello came to my office with Ali Bello on two occasions during the negotiations,” he said.
Under cross-examination, the witness admitted that he did not prepare the Deed of Assignment.
“It was brought to me by the people who wanted to buy the property,” he said, confirming again that the assignee named in the document was Ali Bello.
Following his testimony, the witness was discharged.
The prosecution subsequently called its 12th witness (PW12), Jamilu Abdullahi, a bureau de change operator, who told the court that he owned three companies: Kunfayakun Global Limited, E-Traders International Limited and De-Remita International Limited.
Abdullahi confirmed that he made a statement to the EFCC in 2021, which the court admitted in evidence as Exhibit 36. He also stated that he was a signatory to the companies’ accounts and maintained a personal account with Access Bank.
While identifying earlier admitted bank statements, he explained that Exhibit 33(1) belonged to his personal Access Bank account, Exhibit 33(6) belonged to E-Traders International Limited, while Exhibit 37(1) belonged to Kunfayakun Global Limited.
The witness told the court that he met one Abba Adaudu in 2021 at Zenith Bank in Apo, Abuja, where they exchanged contacts after discovering they were both involved in foreign exchange transactions.
According to him, Adaudu later began sending funds to him for foreign exchange transactions, with several deposits made in tranches of ₦10 million.
When questioned about deposits made on December 29 and 30, 2021, totalling ₦60 million into his Access Bank account in Lokoja, Abdullahi told the court that he did not personally make the deposits.
“My name was used as the narration, but I was not the one who paid the money. It was Abba Adaudu,” he said, adding that he had never visited the Access Bank branch in Lokoja.
“Not in my life, my lord,” he said.
According to him, whenever funds were deposited into his account, he converted them into foreign currency and handed the dollars to Adaudu.
“I converted them to dollars and gave them to Abba Adaudu,” he said, noting that the transactions lasted for more than a year.
He further told the court that the inflows were sometimes cash deposits and, at other times, transfers from companies linked to Adaudu, including Keyless Nature Limited and Ejadams Essence Limited.
Abdullahi added that he occasionally instructed other companies to make international transfers on his behalf, including payments of school fees to the American International School.
While reviewing multiple transactions in the E-Traders International Limited account statement, the witness confirmed that several deposits amounting to hundreds of millions of naira were made on the instructions of Adaudu between 2021 and 2022.
However, during the proceedings, Abdullahi informed the court that he was exhausted due to fasting and could not continue his testimony. The court allowed him to stand down to continue his evidence on the next adjourned date.
Earlier in the proceedings, Justice Nwite delivered a ruling on the admissibility of two documents relating to the alleged sale of Plot 1160, Cadastral Zone, Gwarimpa II, Abuja, reportedly sold for ₦100 million.
“In view of the above, I am of the opinion that the authorities cited are in tandem with the scenario at hand, where the prosecution has clearly put it before the court that the intent and purpose of tendering the documents is only to indicate the existence of a transaction and nothing more,” the judge ruled.
“Therefore, this Honourable Court holds that the documents sought to be tendered are admissible.”
Consequently, the court admitted the documents, marking the Irrevocable Power of Attorney as Exhibit 42 and the Deed of Assignment as Exhibit 43.
Following the ruling, prosecution counsel Chukwudi Enebeli, SAN, continued the examination-in-chief of the 10th prosecution witness, Mahmoud Abdulaziz, an accountant with Dantata and Sawoe Construction Limited.
While identifying documents earlier tendered, Abdulaziz told the court that Exhibit 31 was a Keystone Bank account statement belonging to the construction company.
He explained that Exhibit 42 was the Irrevocable Power of Attorney between Dantata and Sawoe Construction Limited and Azba Real Estate Limited, while Exhibit 43 was the Deed of Assignment executed between the two companies.
“My lord, Dantata and Sawoe gave consent and assigned Azba to execute the deed. They, Azba, then gave us the two documents. Our director signed on behalf of Dantata, and Ali Bello signed on behalf of Azba,” he said.
During cross-examination by defence counsel J.B. Daudu, SAN, the witness admitted that he was not present when the documents were signed but said he could identify the signatures of his company’s directors.
“My lord, I can identify the signatures of our two directors. The names are Mubarak Dantata and Nasiru A. Dantata,” he said, adding that he could not identify who signed on behalf of Azba Real Estate Limited.
With no further questions from either side, the witness was discharged.
Following the testimonies, lead prosecution counsel Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, filed a motion seeking to set aside an earlier order of the court that permitted the defendant to travel abroad.
Pinheiro told the court that the request was based on fresh developments and security concerns.
“My lord, we are just being careful and concerned that the defendant should remain in Nigeria to face his trial to prevent the possibility of extradition and incarceration in another country,” he said.
However, defence counsel Daudu opposed the application, arguing that the defendant had already been granted bail and remained presumed innocent under the law.
He also pointed out that the presence of an Interpol Red Notice could complicate any travel arrangement.
“Allowing him to travel without removing the Red Notice is like giving him something with the left hand and collecting it back with the right hand,” he said.
After hearing both arguments, Justice Nwite adjourned the case until April 22, 23 and 24, 2026, and May 6 and 7, 2026, for continuation of the trial.
