A prosecution witness on Thursday narrated before the Federal High Court in Abuja how over N1.09 billion mysteriously vanished from the Kogi State Government House Administration Account within just three days.
Testifying before Justice Emeka Nwite, Mashelia Arhyel Dada, a compliance officer with Zenith Bank’s Maitama branch, appeared as Prosecution Witness Four (PW4) in the ongoing trial of former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Adoza Bello.
Led in evidence by the prosecuting counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, Dada outlined a trail of large, suspicious cash withdrawals made from the government’s account between 2016 and 2023 — transactions allegedly breaching banking regulations and anti-corruption protocols.
Dada told the court that the transactions were backed by seven sets of documents submitted in response to a subpoena issued to Zenith Bank’s Managing Director. The subpoena was admitted as Exhibit 20, while related account statements and records involving individuals and companies were admitted as Exhibits 21 to 24C.
Among the accounts scrutinized were those belonging to Adamu Jagafa Ishaya, Whales Oil and Gas, Jimeda Properties Nigeria Ltd, Alyeshua Solutions, and the Kogi State Government House Administration Account.
Dada’s testimony focused heavily on the Government House account, where repeated cash withdrawals violated the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) cashless policy, which limits cash withdrawals by government and corporate accounts to N5 million, with penalties for exceeding the threshold.
Between January 30 and February 1, 2018, a total of N697,267,000 was withdrawn in N10 million tranches via cheques issued to Abdulsalami Hudu. Then on February 2, 2018, an additional N99,573,000 was withdrawn the same way — bringing the total withdrawn within those three days to N1.096 billion.
Additionally, on February 1, 2018, the account recorded a direct transfer of N3,325,000 to Ali Bello.
The pattern continued for years. Dada disclosed that on May 6, 11, and 19, 2022, the Government House account received N100 million each day from the Kogi State Statutory Revenue Account, followed immediately by cheque withdrawals of N10 million each — mostly by Hudu and another individual, Alhassan Omakoji.
Referring to pages 395 to 401 of the account statement, Dada confirmed that nearly every credit inflow was followed by same-day cheque withdrawals to the same individuals.
A particularly striking instance occurred on September 7, 2023, when N110 million was withdrawn in eleven separate N10 million cash transactions — breaching withdrawal limits and resulting in N4.75 million in CBN surcharges for that day alone.
Earlier, on January 20, 2018, the account received ten separate credits from the Kogi State Statutory Account, totaling over N697 million, immediately followed by a spree of cheque withdrawals issued to Hudu and others. On January 31, 2018, Hudu allegedly withdrew N347,267,000 through 36 separate cash transactions.
Evidence tendered before the court included the account opening documents (pages 2–23 of Exhibit 22A) and the comprehensive bank statement (pages 24–413), with the earliest transaction dated February 12, 2016.
Dada also explained the structure of the bank statements — including transaction dates, value dates, descriptions, debit and credit columns, and balances — and clarified the difference between NEFT and NIP electronic transfers.
The trial, which revolves around alleged fraudulent activities totaling N80.2 billion, continues as the EFCC ramps up efforts to uncover what it describes as a “systemic abuse of public funds” during Yahaya Bello’s administration.