An operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), John Justice, told the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama, Abuja, on Tuesday, 27 October 2026, that most of the funds credited to the accounts of companies under investigation in the alleged 110.4 billion naira fraud case involving former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello came from local government accounts in the state on a monthly basis.
Justice gave the evidence as Prosecution Witness 20 in the ongoing trial of Bello before Justice Maryanne Anineh. Bello is being prosecuted alongside Umar Shuaibu Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu on a 16 count charge of criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving 110.4 billion naira.
Led in evidence by prosecution counsel Kemi Pinheiro, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, the witness said investigators requested records of inflows and outflows involving several companies as part of efforts to trace the movement of funds through their accounts. He told the court that responses received from the banks were analysed, leading to the identification of Keyless Ventures as another company that benefited from proceeds traced to the companies.
Justice said the analysis of Forza Business Enterprise’s statement of account showed that most of the funds credited to the account came from Kogi State local government accounts on a monthly basis. “Most of the funds coming into the account were funds from Kogi State Local Government accounts coming on monthly basis,” he said.
He further told the court that the investigators’ analysis showed that the companies received inflows from Kogi State, while the transactions were treated as cash withdrawals. “Our analysis reveals that these companies were receiving inflow from Kogi State while transactions were treated as cash withdrawals,” he said.
Justice explained that the Commission subsequently invited officials of Access Bank and Zenith Bank and requested closed circuit television footage because of the large volumes of cash recorded in the transactions. According to him, the footage showed that the large sums recorded as withdrawals were not physically taken out of the banks.
“What this means is a customer walks into the bank, he fills a cheque withdrawal and a deposit slip to a different account,” the witness said.
Earlier in his testimony, Justice told the court that the investigation followed intelligence received by the EFCC’s Procurement Fraud Section concerning the activities of local governments in Kogi State. He said the intelligence mentioned several companies, including Hayzma, Bibas Energy, Forza Oil and Gas, and Keyless Ventures.
The witness said investigators conducted Bank Verification Number searches and wrote to the relevant banks for information. The responses received were subsequently analysed. When Pinheiro asked him to examine certain exhibits and confirm whether they related to the requests made during the investigation, Justice said the documents were connected to the case. He identified one exhibit as relating to Hayzma Business Enterprise, another as Keyless Nature, and a further exhibit as Forza Business Enterprise.
Justice also told the court that a Bank Verification Number search relating to Keyless Nature revealed the name Abba Adaudu, while earlier searches had returned the names Yakubu Siyaka Adebenege and Iyadat Sa’adat.
Justice, who said he had been an EFCC operative for over nine years, told the court that he had received training at the EFCC Academy in asset tracing, internet fraud, anti money laundering, advance fee fraud and other areas. Asked whether he had participated in an investigation concerning the defendants, he answered in the affirmative.
John James
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