By Peace Udugba
A prosecution witness of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) on Wednesday told the Federal High Court that the former Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, was not involved in any of the property transactions being examined in the ongoing money laundering trial.
The witness, Shehu Bello Bala—the 17th prosecution witness in the case—made the clarification under cross-examination by defence counsel, Paul Daudu.
He also stated that the 2nd defendant was not involved in the transactions and explained that one Farouk Bello acted as an agent in the dealings.
According to the witness, he was aware that title documents, including a deed of assignment and power of attorney, were later returned to Efab Estate by Farouk Bello.
He told the court that he was not related to either Ali Bello or Farouk Bello, and confirmed that he was not from Kogi State. He said he is a commodity trader from Katsina State and had known Ali Bello for about 14 years through business dealings.
“I knew Ali Bello in the course of my business which is commodity trading. We have done quite a number of businesses like buying grains from the North… ginger and other products,” he said, adding that their business relationship dated back to around 2012–2013 and that Ali Bello was also into real estate.
Counsel to the 2nd and 3rd defendants, A.M. Aliyu, further questioned the witness on whether he knew the 3rd defendant, to which he answered in the negative, stating that he did not participate in the transactions.
He also informed the court that by the time some property documents were returned to Efab Estate, Farouk Bello—described as his father’s friend—had already passed away.
Under further questioning, the defence suggested that the children of the deceased may have sought to collect money from the property transaction, but the witness said he could not confirm whether the individual who approached him was Farouk Bello’s son.
He added that he returned the documents to the chairman of Efab Estate after becoming aware that the property was under investigation.
The witness further noted that another property not marked by the EFCC was the one allegedly purchased by Farouk Bello.
When asked whether Ali Bello inherited the property from his mother, the defence counsel received an objection from prosecution counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, who argued that such a line of questioning did not reflect the witness’s earlier testimony.
The defence, however, maintained that it was entitled to lay proper foundation for its case.
