A prosecution witness told the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Maitama, Abuja, on Thursday how over $760,000 was paid as advance school fees for former Kogi State Yahaya Bello’s children at the American International School Abuja (AISA).
The witness, Nicholas Okehone, who is an Internal Auditor with AISA and the 14th prosecution witness in the former governor’s trial, said this while testifying before trial judge Maryann Anineh.
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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is prosecuting former Governor Bello alongside Umar Shuaibu Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu on 16 counts of criminal breach of trust involving N110.4 billion.
According to the EFCC, Mr Bello, who served two terms as the governor of Kogi from January 2016 to January 2024, conspired with his co-defendants to divert the funds from the Kogi State Government’s coffers.
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The prosecution alleged that the funds were used acquire properties for Mr Bello in choice areas of Abuja and one in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Led in evidence by prosecution lawyer Kemi Pilawyernheiro, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), prosecution witness Okehone told the court on Thursday that Mr Bello had four children enrolled in AISA.
Asked if he knew Mr Bello, the witness replied:
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“Yes, I know him as a parent. He has children in my institution. He has four children at the American International School, Abuja.”
The witness named the former governor’s children enrolled in the school as Zahra Fatima, Na’ima, Nana Fatima Bello and Farid Bello.
He also confirmed that Zayyan Ali Bello, the son of Ali Bello, a nephew to the former governor, was among the beneficiaries of the payments.
The EFCC presented the admission letters of the children, agreement for pre-paid payments of school fees until graduation, and telex copies of payments from TD Bank in the US.
The prosecution also tendered the copies of the email correspondence between AISA and Ali Bello, receipts, and statement of accounts from Zenith Bank, and TD Bank.
It also tendered a letter from the school to the EFCC requesting account details for refund and a letter from the EFCC forwarding a designated account with the Central Bank of Nigeria to the American International School.
According to the witness, Ali signed the agreement for prepaid school fees until graduation “for the family of Bello.”
The agreement for the payment included the names of four of Mr Bello’s children already enrolled in the school and “Future students to be enrolled; Zayyan Ali Bello.”
He further narrated the payments in US dollars for the children. For instance, the witness said Forza Oil and Gas paid $99,200 to TD Bank for Zahra Bello, and $89,400 for Fatima Bello.
The witness added that Whales Oil and Gas paid $11,000 for Fareeda Oricha, Aleshua Solutions $78,160 for Fatima Bello and $42,170 for Naima Bello.
According to the witness, there was also a transfer of $44,700 by Forza Oil and Gas to Naima Bello in an account domiciled in Access Bank.
The witness also sai Manzi Issa from Uganda paid $100,000 for Zayyan Ali Bello, Dada Grand Merchant Limited in Uganda also paid $90,000 for Zayyan.
The witness also confirmed that the school’s TD Bank account reflected several inflows consistent with these transfers, including payments of $29,575, $44,675, $78,135, $42,145, and $74,920.71 made four times on 7 September.
“I confirm that all the payments are in line with the agreement to pay school fees in advance,” he said.
The witness confirmed “that all the payments are an agreement to pay school fees,” and the school refunded “$760,910.64 to the designated bank in CBN,” provided by the EFCC.
Property purchase
Earlier on Thursday, the 11th prosecution witness, James Igbakuleh, informed the court that the property at No 1058, measuring about 1450.77sqm in Cadastral Zone A08, Wuse 2, was sold to Shehu Bello.
Mr Igabkuleh negotiated the payment of the property on behalf of his client, SFC Foods Limited, for N650 million in 2021.
While Mr Shehu handled the negotiation of the property, he noted that Mr Ali came to his office on two occasions as the purchaser.
He presented copies of the counteroffer and the deed of assignment to the court. However, he informed the court that they were photocopies because he “requested original copies which were not returned to me.”
Defence lawyers Paul Daudu, a SAN, and Z.E Abbas reserved their objection to the documents for their written final addresses.
During cross-examination, he denied knowing the former governor personally or his co-defendants. He also said signature of Ali did not appear on the deed of assignment, nor did that of the defendants.
The chief accountant of Dantata and Sawoe appeared as the 12th prosecution witness. He narrated how his company sold the property, 1160 Cadastral Zone C03, Gwarimpa II, Abuja, in 2021, for N100 million.
Mahmud Abdulaziz said the payments were paid in tranches of N10 from 17 to 22 February 2022.
He said the negotiations were carried out by the vice chairman of Dantata and Sawoe with Ali.
Thereafter, the EFCC presented the company’s account statement, deed of assignment and power of attorney, but the defence objected that it was a public document, and there was no indication of compliance with the certified fee.
But EFCC’s lawyer Olukayode Enitan SAN noted that the documents were duly certified. After which, the judge ruled that “There was no justifiable reason why the document should not be admitted.”
The witness told the court that Mubarak Dantata and Nasiru Dantata signed the documents on behalf of the company, while Mr Ali signed as the purchaser for Azba.
Under cross-examination by defence lawyer Mr Daudu, the accountant noted that there was no amount stated in the document. He also noted that the three defendants were not the beneficiaries.
In January 2026, EFCC also presented the account statement of Dantata and Sawoe Constructions through the seventh prosecution witness, Mohammed Bello, an executive trainee with Key Stone Bank.
The witness told the court that between 17 and 22 February 2021, there was a transfer of N100 million into Dantata and Sawoe’s account with Keystone Bank.
Nine of the transfers were from Maigari Murtala and one from Yusuf Mubarak; their identities are unclear, and the witness also denied knowing any of them.
Another lawyer, Yakubu Haruna, testified about the property at 35, Danubi Street, Maitama, Abuja, purchased for N950 million from Palchi Nigeria Plc.
READ ALSO: EFCC arraigns man, firm over alleged phoney $1.5m oil investment
Mr Haruna described it as four units, four-bedroom apartments.
He noted that the property was paid in dollars through a lawyer, Ramalan Abdullahi, on behalf of White Tree Nigeria Limited. He recalled that the exchange rate of the dollars at the time of purchase was N400 to a dollar.
However, he did not have the original copies or even the photocopies of the power of attorney or deed of assignment because the buyer “never gave us a copy,” after he had signed it.
Thereafter, Mr Pinheiro asked if the witness would be surprised that Farouk Bello and Adiza Bello were listed as shareholders of White Tree Nigeria Limited. He replied, “I would not know.”
During cross-examination, he said he did not conduct a search on White Tree Nigeria Limited, and did not come across the defendants during negotiation.
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