The immediate past Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, was not involved in any of the property transactions currently being examined by the court in his ongoing alleged money laundering trial, a prosecution witness told the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday.
The witness, Shehu Bello Bala, who appeared as the 17th prosecution witness in the case instituted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against Bello and two others, made the disclosure while being cross-examined by counsel to the defendants.
Responding to questions from Yahaya Bello’s counsel, Paul Daudu, SAN, Bala stated that neither the former governor nor the second defendant participated in any of the property transactions under scrutiny. According to him, one Farouk Bello acted as the agent in the transactions.
The witness, however, acknowledged that he was aware that title documents relating to the properties, including deeds of assignment and powers of attorney, were later returned to Efab Estate by Farouk Bello.
Bala, a commodity trader from Katsina State, told the court that he had no family relationship with either Ali Bello or Farouk Bello, whom he had referenced during his earlier testimony. He also clarified that he was not from Kogi State and had no familial connection with the former governor.
The witness said he had known Ali Bello for about 14 years through business dealings involving the purchase and sale of agricultural commodities such as grains and ginger.
“I knew Ali Bello in the course of my business, which is commodity trading. We have done quite a number of businesses involving the purchase of grains and other products from the North. I also know that he is into real estate,” Bala told the court.
During cross-examination by counsel to the second and third defendants, A.M. Aliyu, SAN, the witness stated that he did not know the third defendant and that the individual was not involved in any of the transactions.
Bala further informed the court that by the time the title documents were returned to Efab Estate, Farouk Bello—whom he described as a friend of his father—had already passed away.
He explained that an individual later approached him with documents relating to one of the properties and indicated an intention to sell it, although he could not confirm whether the person was Farouk Bello’s son.
According to the witness, he subsequently returned the documents to the chairman of Efab Estate, where it was discovered that the property was under investigation.
“That was when we realised that the property was being investigated,” he said.
Bala also testified that a second property, which was not marked by the EFCC, had been purchased by Farouk Bello.
Proceedings briefly witnessed an objection when defence counsel sought to establish whether Ali Bello inherited the property from his mother. Prosecuting counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, argued that the witness had not testified on issues relating to inheritance.
However, the defence maintained that it was entitled to lay a foundation for its case through questions directed at the witness.
The matter was subsequently adjourned for continuation of hearing.
