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By Lizzy Chirkpi
A prosecution witness on Thursday, June 26, 2025 detailed how a staggering ₦1,096,830,000 (One Billion, Ninety-Six Million, Eight Hundred and Thirty Thousand Naira) was withdrawn from the Kogi State Government House’s Administration Account over just three days.
This testimony was revealed before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Maitama, Abuja, as part of the ongoing trial of former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Adoza Bello, on charges of alleged ₦80.2 billion fraud.
The witness, Mashelia Arhyel Dada, a compliance officer with Zenith Bank, Maitama Branch, testified as Prosecution Witness Four (PW4) under subpoena. He provided a detailed account of massive cash withdrawals purportedly conducted between 2016 and 2023, utilizing various bank instruments and channels.
Led in evidence by prosecuting counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, Dada stated that the records he presented were part of seven sets of documents submitted in compliance with a subpoena addressed to the bank’s Managing Director. The subpoena was admitted as Exhibit 20, with related documents covering account holders and corporate entities admitted as Exhibits 21 through 24C. Among the accounts examined were those belonging to Adamu Jagafa Ishaya, Whales Oil and Gas, Jimeda Properties Nigeria Limited, Alyeshua Solutions, and, notably, the Kogi State Government House’s Administration Account.
Government House’s Administration Account, Pinheiro disclosed a pattern of cash withdrawals that seemingly violated the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) cashless policy. According to Dada, the CBN had set cash withdrawal limits at ₦500,000 for individuals and ₦5,000,000 for corporate or government entities during the period in question. Exceeding these limits incurred surcharges.
Dada testified that between January 30 and February 1, 2018, a total of ₦697,267,000 was withdrawn in ₦10 million tranches through cheques issued in the name of one Abdulsalami Hudu. He added that on February 2, 2018, an additional ₦99,573,000 was withdrawn in similar tranches, alongside several other withdrawals totaling ₦1.09 billion within three days.
The prosecution also revealed that on February 1, 2018, a transfer of ₦3,325,000 was made from the same Kogi Government account to one Ali Bello.
Dada further disclosed that this pattern of suspicious transactions continued in subsequent years. On May 6, May 11, and May 19, 2022, the same account received ₦100 million on each date from the Kogi State Statutory Revenue Account. These inflows, he stated, were immediately followed by multiple cash withdrawals in ₦10 million tranches, primarily by Abdulsalami Hudu and another named beneficiary, Alhassan Omakoji.
Referring to pages 395 to 401 of the account statement, the witness confirmed that “almost every credit inflow was followed by immediate debits via cheque withdrawals made out to the same individuals, sometimes on the same day.”
Dada further narrated that on September 7, 2023, the account recorded 11 cash withdrawals of ₦10 million each, “far above the ₦5 million limit, attracting a surcharge of ₦500,000 per transaction.This resulted in a total surcharge of ₦4,750,000 for that day alone.”
“In another instance, on January 20, 2018, the account received 10 separate credits from the Kogi State Statutory Account totaling over ₦697 million. These were again followed by a series of ₦10 million withdrawals issued to Hudu and others. On January 31, Hudu alone reportedly collected ₦347,267,000 in 36 separate cash withdrawals,” he stated.
Pinheiro also tendered the account opening documents from pages 2 to 23 of Exhibit 22A, and the bank statement from pages 24 to 413, with the earliest transaction dating back to February 12, 2016. Dada described the six standard columns on the statement—date posted, value date, transaction description, debit, credit, and balance—and explained various transaction types, including NEFT and NIP transfers.
Although the defense team, led by J.B. Daudu, SAN, initially objected to the admissibility of some documents; they opted to reserve their arguments for a later date. Justice Emeka Nwite admitted all documents and marked them accordingly.
The matter was thereafter adjourned to Friday, June 27, 2025, for cross-examination and continuation of trial.