In the ongoing trial of former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, a prosecution witness testified on Thursday, June 26, 2025, that a staggering ₦1,096,830,000 was withdrawn in just three days from the Kogi State Government House’s Administration Account.
The witness, Mashelia Arhyel Dada, a compliance officer with Zenith Bank, testified as the fourth prosecution witness (PW4) under subpoena before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
He provided a detailed account of massive cash withdrawals allegedly made between 2016 and 2023.
Led in evidence by prosecuting counsel Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, Mr. Dada presented seven sets of documents in response to a subpoena.
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These documents, admitted as Exhibits 20 to 24C, covered multiple accounts, including those of Adamu Jagafa Ishaya, Whales Oil and Gas, Jimeda Properties Nigeria Limited, Alyeshua Solutions, and the Kogi State Government House’s Administration Account.
Focusing on the government account, Pinheiro highlighted a pattern of cash withdrawals that violated the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) cashless policy, which set daily cash withdrawal limits at ₦500,000 for individuals and ₦5,000,000 for corporate entities.
Mr. Dada testified that:
- Between January 30 and February 1, 2018, a total of ₦697,267,000 was withdrawn in ₦10 million tranches via cheques issued to one Abdulsalami Hudu.
- On February 2, 2018, an additional ₦99,573,000 was withdrawn in similar tranches.
- These withdrawals, among others, totaled over ₦1.09 billion within three days.
- On February 1, 2018, a transfer of ₦3,325,000 was made from the same account to one Ali Bello.
The witness further revealed that this pattern continued in subsequent years. On May 6, 11, and 19, 2022, the account received ₦100 million on each date from the Kogi State Statutory Revenue Account.
Each inflow was immediately followed by multiple cash withdrawals in ₦10 million tranches, primarily by Abdulsalami Hudu and another beneficiary, Alhassan Omakoji.
Mr. Dada also pointed to account statements showing that nearly every credit inflow was followed by same-day debits via cheques to the same individuals.
He cited a specific instance on September 7, 2023, where the account recorded 11 cash withdrawals of ₦10 million each, far exceeding the ₦5 million limit.
This resulted in a total surcharge of ₦4,750,000 for that day alone.
In another example, on January 20, 2018, the account received 10 separate credits from the Kogi State Statutory Account totaling over ₦697 million.
These were followed by a series of ₦10 million withdrawals. On January 31 alone, Hudu reportedly collected ₦347,267,000 in 36 separate cash withdrawals.
The prosecution also tendered account opening documents and bank statements. The defense team, led by J.B. Daudu, SAN, objected to the admissibility of some documents but reserved their arguments. Justice Emeka Nwite admitted all documents.
The trial was adjourned to Friday, June 27, 2025, for cross-examination and continuation.
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