EFCC, Bello Defence Clash Over Witness Evidence in ₦80.2bn Money Laundering Trial

The ₦80.2 billion money laundering trial of former Kogi Governor Yahaya Bello hit a procedural wall Thursday after a dispute between prosecution and defence over how a key witness can be examined.

The flashpoint was Exhibit 46 — a prior statement made by the 12th prosecution witness to the EFCC. Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja adjourned until Friday to rule on whether the prosecution can put that statement to the witness to challenge his live testimony.

The witness, Jamilu Abdullahi, a bureau de change operator, told the court he converted large sums of cash into US dollars and handed them to Abba Adaudu — a man prosecutors describe as a close associate of Bello. Abdullahi identified cash inflows to his companies, E-Traders International Limited and Kunfayakun Global Limited, between October 2021 and March 2022, including N100m and N400m from Keyless Nature Limited, and N600m in six tranches plus N325m via RTGS in February 2022. All belonged to Adaudu, he said.

The problem: when asked if he delivered the converted dollars at any location beyond his office or Adaudu’s, the witness said no. That clashed with his earlier EFCC statement. The prosecution tried to show him that statement; defence counsel Joseph Daudu (SAN) objected.

“If learned counsel intends to contradict his witness, he must first apply to have him declared a hostile witness,” Daudu said. “Counsel cannot rely on this document to contradict or augment the witness’s oral evidence without following due procedure.”

Prosecution lead Kemi Pinheiro (SAN) pushed back, arguing the statement was only being used to refresh the witness’s memory under Section 239 of the Evidence Act — and that transactions from five years ago are easy to misremember.

Justice Nwite will rule on the dispute before the trial resumes. Bello faces 19 counts covering alleged diversion of funds from Kogi State and local government accounts between 2016 and 2024. He has pleaded not guilty.

Sources: Punch, ThisDay, Premium Times