Kogi tax agency transferred N1.1bn to firm in eight months during Gov Bello’s administration – Witness

A bank official on Friday told the FCT High Court in Abuja that the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service (KSIRS), during the tenure of Governor Yahaya Bello, transferred over N1.1 billion to a private company.

Led in evidence by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)’s lawyer, Kemi Pinheiro, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), the ninth prosecution witness, David Ajoma, said the money was transferred to Bespoque Business Solutions Limited (BBSL).

Mr Ajoma, a compliance officer with Sterling Bank, continued his testimony from Thursday’s court proceedings.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that the witness had opened his testimony, detailing transfers of funds from KSIRS to BBLS and how the company’s name had surfaced in previous witness testimonies. Meanwhile, the connection between the transfers from KSIRS to BBLS and Mr Bello along with his co-defendants in the N110 billion fraud case, is not clear yet at the current stage of the trial.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is prosecuting Mr Bello alongside two co-defendants on 16 counts of diverting N110 billion belonging to the Kogi State Government. The former governor faces the charges alongside Umar Shuaibu Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu, with whom he allegedly conspired to perpetrate the alleged fraud.

Mr Bello, who served two terms as the governor of Kogi from January 2016 to January 2024, allegedly committed the offences alongside his co-defendants during his tenure in office.

The anti-graft agency said Mr Bello dishonestly used the stolen funds to acquire properties located in choice areas of Abuja and one in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

All the defendants denied the charges.

During Thursday’s proceedings, the EFCC presented BBSL’s account statement through the witness.

Breakdown of the transfer of funds

Giving a breakdown of the cashflow on the BBSL’s account, the witness, Mr Ajoma, recalled on Friday that the balance on the bank account was only N2 million just before it began to receive a surge of inflows amounting to N99.5 million from KSIRS between 2 January and 28 February 2019. EFCC has questioned the legitimacy of the transfers.

Similarly, the witness said KSIRS transferred over N960 million to the company from 1 March to August 2019.

The witness also stated that “there was a cash withdrawal pattern by Philip Kuma after there was an inflow from KSIRS.” Mr Kuma’s identity is unknown.

EFCC’s lawyer, Mr Pinheiro, asked the witness if some of the cash withdrawals by Mr Kuma exceeded the limits prescribed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The witness answered affirmatively, “From the statement of account before me, I can see multiple cash withdrawals with the maximum exceeding N10 million,” he said.

Mr Pinheiro also inquired if the bank (Sterling Bank) filed a Suspicious Transaction Report (STR); the witness replied, “I believe the bank did; I do not have that information.”

Under cross-examination by Mr Bello and Oricha’s defence lawyer, Joseph Daudu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), the witness noted that he had no record of Cash Transactions Report (CTR) or STR filed on the account.

Answering a question raised by Mr Hudu’s lawyer, A.M Aliyu, a SAN, the witness said the bank never blocked BBSL’s account, nor were the cash withdrawals from Mr Kuma considered wrong. “There is nothing wrong with the withdrawals of cash by Philip Kuma,” he said.

Comparing transactions before the KSIRS transfers

The lawyer also asked the witness to peruse the BBSL account statement, comparing the records from the period KSIRS credited the company (January to August 2019) with the prior six months’ entries.

Mr Ajoma told the court that KSIRS made no transfer during the six months preceding January 2019.

He also noted that Mr Kuma did not withdraw above N1 million prior to the KSIRS transfer. But after KSIRS credited BBSL, Mr Kuma withdrew a total of N950 million from January to August 2019.

However, during cross-examination, Mr Ajoma admitted he knew neither the signatories to BBSL’s account nor the nature of the firm’s business. He further noted that the Kogi State Government was not reflected in any of the transaction narrations.

When Messrs Bello and Oricha’s lawyer, Mr Daudu asked the witness if he knew the difference between Kogi State Government and KSIRS, he replied, “The government is a separate entity from KSIRS.”

The witness also testified that aside from Mr Kuma, there were other beneficiaries in the account statement.

Mr Daudu asked Mr Ajoma to look at the faces of the defendants who were all present in court, say their names aloud and identify if their names were captured on the list of beneficiaries.

The witness responded that their names were not on the list.

Meanwhile, the third prosecution witness, Abimbola Williams, a UBA compliance officer at the United Bank for Africa (UBA), testified in October 2025, that the third defendant, Mr Hudu who served as the Kogi State Government House accountant withdrew over N1 billion from the Government House’s bank account within nine months.

Ms Williams testified during the October 2025 proceedings that her bank filed an STR because each withdrawal exceeded the legal threshold.

In contrast, Mr Ajoma told the court on Friday that he was not certain whether his bank filed an STR regarding the transactions his testimony dwelled on.

After the defence lawyers concluded cross-examining Mr Ajoma on Friday, trial judge Maryanne Anenih adjourned further proceedings until 10 February.

Unidentified individuals and companies

The identities of several individuals and companies whose names have featured in other witnesses’ testimonies are not clear yet. Nevertheless, further developments in the case may bring these details into focus.

Two witnesses from Efab Properties Limited (EPL) have testified in the trial. The first was the chairperson of the firm, Fabian Nworah, and the second was an employee.

They were called to testify on a property sold to Shehu Bello with Bello Ohiani written on the agreement. However, none of the witnesses mentioned the name of the former governor or the other defendants’ names in the dealings.

Since their testimonies, subpoenaed staff members across several banks have taken turns to testify.

A compliance officer at Ecobank, Jesutomi Akoni, appeared as the fourth prosecution and gave evidence on the account statement of Moses Wanzu, whose relationship with the case is still unclear.

Ms Akoni told the court that the account holder, Mr Wanzu, as well as Abdulwahab Sabo and Shehu Bello deposited millions into the account. But Ms Akoni denied knowing their identities.

READ ALSO: How Kogi tax agency transferred millions to private firm during Yahaya Bello’s tenure Witness

The fifth prosecution witness, Victoria Oluwafemi, confirmed that Bello Shehu made multiple electronic transfers of N250 million and N150 million to SFC Foods Limited and JIT Agric Limited, respectively.

In October, Mr Mshelia stated that Mr Hudu withdrew over N707 million from the government house’s bank account within two days in January 2018.

He also said that over N200 million was transferred from the KSIRS to the BBLS’ account during Mr Bello’s tenure as state governor.