Kogi Govt transactions done before I joined bank, EFCC witness tells court
A prosecution witness, Olomotane Egoro, has said the transactions between January 1, 2016, and April 2023, linked to the Kogi State government in Exhibit AH1, were done before he joined
A prosecution witness, Olomotane Egoro, has said the transactions between January 1, 2016, and April 2023, linked to the Kogi State government in Exhibit AH1, were done before he joined Access Bank Plc.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) charged former Governor Yahaya Bello, Umar Shuaibu Oricha, and Abdulsalam Hudu with 16 counts of breach of trust.
They were alleged to have committed a criminal breach of trust over N110,446,470,089, among others.
But Bello and his co-defendants pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Egoro, a compliance officer with Access Bank Plc, was cross-examined by the third defendant’s counsel, Zakari Abbas.
Telling the court what he knew about Exhibit AP, the banker averred that the opening package of that particular account (Fazab Business Enterprise) was not before the court.
The witness said he could not confirm the business for which Fazab Business Enterprise was registered, though he admitted that opening a corporate account required incorporation documents.
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Egoro also said he did not know why the various local government areas paid money into Exhibit AP unless stated.
Abbas asked if Access Bank had approved all the cheques that Yakubu Abenege brought.
“All the withdrawals were approved by the bank,” the witness responded.
“Did the bank breach any of the CBN rules?” Abbas asked.
“No, my lord,” Egoro said.
The witness’s attention was then drawn to transactions of May 6, 2022, in Exhibit AP, where narrations were stated for the inflows.
He confirmed that the inflow into the account from Okehi Local Government was for the supply of medical items.
After the cross-examination, Justice Maryann Anenih adjourned the case till today for continuation of the trial.
The witness had, earlier, told the court that no banking rules were breached in relation to the transactions linked to the Kogi Government House account.
The witness also said there was no Post No Debit (PND) instruction against the account being tendered as evidence.
He noted that the name of the former governor and the 2nd defendant did not feature in the transactions.
