The trial of former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Adoza Bello, continued on Thursday, April 23, 2026, before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Maitama, Abuja, with a prosecution witness narrating how huge cash lodgments were converted to dollars and handed over to a key associate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is prosecuting Bello over alleged money laundering amounting to \u20a680,246,470,088.88.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Testifying, the witness, Jamilu Abdullahi, a Bureau de Change operator and Prosecution Witness 12 (PW12), while being led in evidence by prosecuting counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, told the court that several cash deposits were made on different dates into the account of E-Traders International Limited by one Abba Adaudu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYes, my lord, there are more cash deposit transactions on different days into E-Traders International Limited,\u201d the witness stated when asked to confirm whether such deposits extended beyond previously identified dates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Referring to Exhibit 33(6), Abdullahi confirmed that there were cash inflows on March 10 and 11, 2022, but clarified discrepancies in the names of depositors appearing on the transaction records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy lord, I need to explain that the names indicated in the cash deposits\u2014Abdullahi Jamilu, Jamil Abdullahi, and Jamilu Abdullahi\u2014were used as narration. However, I was not the one who made the cash deposits at the Lokoja branch,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The witness further identified Abba Adaudu as the depositor in transactions dated October 8 and 11, 2021, maintaining that all dealings were conducted directly with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAbba Adaudu, my lord. In all these transactions, I dealt with Abba Adaudu,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Abdullahi disclosed that upon receiving the cash lodgments, he converted the naira sums into United States dollars and handed them over to Adaudu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI converted them into US dollars and handed them over to Abba Adaudu,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While examining Exhibit 37, relating to Kunfayakun Global Limited\u2014his company\u2014the witness confirmed receiving \u20a6100 million and \u20a6400 million on December 15 and 17, 2021, respectively, from a firm identified as Keyless Nature Limited, which he said belonged to Adaudu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe transfers were for dollar purchases. Upon receipt, we agreed on the rate, I converted the funds and handed the dollars over to Abba Adaudu,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The witness further testified that on February 18, 2022, he received \u20a6600 million in six tranches into the account of Ejadams Essence Limited, also allegedly linked to Adaudu, for the purpose of purchasing dollars. Additionally, he confirmed receiving \u20a6325 million on February 21, 2022, via RTGS for the same purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to him, the physical handover of the dollars took place either at his office or that of Adaudu, located in Area 8, Abuja.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat I can recall is that he always comes to my office to pick up the dollars, my lord,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Proceedings were, however, briefly stalled following an objection by defence counsel, J. B. Daudu, SAN, who argued that the prosecution was attempting to contradict the witness without first declaring him hostile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf the witness wants to contradict himself, he should be declared a hostile witness,\u201d Daudu submitted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In response, Pinheiro maintained that the witness had been consistent in his testimony, noting that his recollection of events spanning several years could not be construed as contradiction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe witness was very unequivocal and unambiguous\u2026 His statement reflects his recollection of transactions that occurred about five years ago,\u201d he argued, citing relevant provisions of the Evidence Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After listening to arguments from both parties, Justice Nwite adjourned the matter until April 24, 2026, for a ruling on the objection and continuation of the trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dele Oyewale<\/strong> The trial of former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Adoza Bello, continued on Thursday, April 23, 2026, before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Maitama, Abuja, with a prosecution witness narrating how huge cash lodgments were converted to dollars and handed over to a key associate. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":96634,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[148,153],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-96633","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-efcc","8":"category-judiciary"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/datelineafro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/datelineafro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/datelineafro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/datelineafro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/datelineafro.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=96633"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/datelineafro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96635,"href":"https:\/\/datelineafro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96633\/revisions\/96635"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/datelineafro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/96634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/datelineafro.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=96633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/datelineafro.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=96633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/datelineafro.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=96633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Head, Media & Publicity
April 23, 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"