Justice Maryann Anenih of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court has adjourned the ongoing money laundering trial involving former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, to November 12, 2025.
The case was postponed after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) presented its sixth witness during Thursday’s proceedings.
At the resumed hearing on October 9, the EFCC called its fifth witness, Victoria Oluwafemi, a compliance officer with Polaris Bank.
Oluwafemi told the court that the account in question received various inflows from multiple senders, explaining that most outgoing transfers were made in ₦10 million batches.
She also disclosed that the total credit into the account in November 2021 amounted to ₦450 million.
However, under cross-examination by Yahaya Bello’s counsel, Joseph Daudu, SAN, Oluwafemi admitted she was not the account or relationship officer for the two accounts being scrutinised and therefore could not confirm how the transactions were executed.
Counsel to the second defendant, A. M. Aliyu, also questioned her about whether the name of the second defendant, Abdulsalam Hudu, appeared in the part of Exhibit M shown to her. She responded that it did not.
The prosecution then called its sixth witness, Mshelia Arhyel, for cross-examination.
However, Daudu informed the court that he had not completed cross-examining the same witness in a similar matter before another judge.
Justice Anenih ruled that the current case was independent, leaving it to the defence to decide whether or not to proceed with cross-examination.
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During the session, the EFCC sought to tender several documents through the subpoenaed witness. Defence counsel opposed the move, arguing that the documents failed to comply with Sections 83 and 84 of the Evidence Act.
Both defence lawyers asked for time to argue their objections in detail.
Prosecution counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, urged the court to dismiss the objections and admit the documents.
Justice Anenih subsequently admitted a 218-page statement of account belonging to Alusha Services, signed by Mshelia Arhyel, into evidence as Exhibit P1.
In further testimony, the witness confirmed that prior to 2023, withdrawals were permitted as long as no single cheque exceeded ₦10 million.
When asked about specific transactions between February 2016 and May 2022, Arhyel confirmed multiple ₦10 million withdrawals, stating that all were within the approved threshold.
He estimated the total value of transactions up to January 31, 2018, at ₦707,267,000.
The witness also detailed dollar transactions from May 2022, including transfers of $2,500 and $5,000 made in favour of individuals identified as Rosemary Chukwuma and Yau.
Additionally, he confirmed that the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service made deposits totalling ₦202 million into the account in December 2016.
Justice Anenih concluded the day’s proceedings at 3 p.m. and scheduled the continuation of the sixth witness’s examination for November 12 and 13, 2025.