Yahaya Bello Not Linked To N550m Property, EFCC Witness Tells Court

ABUJA – A witness called by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commis­sion (EFCC), Segun Adeleke, on Monday, told Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, that the former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello’s name was not on any of the two properties being exam­ined.

Adeleke, who is the Gener­al Manager of Efab Properties Limited, stated this when he was asked to tell the court what he knows about a property on 1 Ik­ogosi Road, Maitama and another one in Gwarinpa.

Adeleke while testifying for the EFCC in the charge against the former Kogi governor told the court that the name of the defendant did not show on any of the two properties being examined and that he did not sight him throughout the trans­actions.

Giving an account of what transpired, the prosecution witness said sometime in 2020, his Chairman, Chief Fabian Nworah, introduced him to a young man called Shehu Bello and that they had a discussion concerning the purchase of the property.

“We had a discussion concern­ing the purchase of the property in question. And he told me that the young man would be coming back to make payment for the property at an agreed price of N550 million,” he said.

When asked if he had seen Shehu Bello since that day, he said, “I saw him three times. The first time was for introduction, the second time for payment and the third time was when he brought a legal document for the execution of the EFAB property.”

The EFCC lawyer then men­tioned another property at 5th Avenue in Gwarinpa and told the witness to tell the court what he knows about it.

Responding, the witness said the property was purchased by one Nuhu Mohammed for N70 million and was paid for through a bank transfer.

He was asked if he remem­bered which bank the money came from, but he said no.

Led in evidence by EFCC lead counsel, Kemi Pinheiro (SAN), Adeleke narrated to Justice Nwite that upon conclusion of transac­tions, Shehu Bello made payment for the property and receipt and letter of allocation were delivered to him.

He, however, said that Bello changed the transactions when he came back for refund of his mon­ey upon discovery that the house was under EFCC investigation.

Under cross-examination by Joseph Daudu (SAN), lead coun­sel to Yahaya Bello, the witness ad­mitted having transactions with Shehu Bello three times.

He said that throughout the transactions, he did not sight Yahaya Bello while his name did also not feature in any of the documents on the transactions including the title deed.

The witness said that he didn’t see Shehu Bello who purchased the property in court.

Asked if the witness’ actions were purely based on the instruc­tions of his chairman, he respond­ed, “Yes.”

The defence counsel further asked whether it was correct to say that he did not initiate any dis­cussion with Shehu Bello on his own, to which he also answered, “Yes.”

On the documents signed for the transactions, the defendant’s counsel asked the witness if he could confirm that Shehu Bello signed his own part in his presence.

“He did not my Lord,” he an­swered.

Daudu (SAN) also asked: “Throughout this transaction, did you set eye on the defendant?”

“Not at anytime in the course of this transaction,” the witness responded.

He was also asked if the name of the defendant appeared any­where on the documents he said were with the EFCC.

He, again answered, “no!”

The prosecution then told the court that they had another wit­ness to call, on subpoena.

The defendant’s counsel object­ed that they were being taken by surprise but added that he had no intention of stalling the trial.

The second witness identified herself as Williams Abimbola, a compliance officer with the Unit­ed Bank for Africa Plc (UBA).

She had the subpoena with her, which the lawyer sought to tender as evidence.

The defendant’s counsel had no objection and it was marked “Exhibit 1”.

The witness read out the doc­uments the subpoena asked for to include the statement of account of Kogi State Government House, from January 1, 2016 to January 31, 2024.

The statements of account of Maselina Njoku, from January 1 to December 31, 2022, were also admitted in evidence, including the account opening packages of American International School and statements of accounts, from September 1 to September 30, 2020.

Meanwhile, the case has been adjourned to March 6 and 7 for continuation of trial.