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| Yahaya Adoza Bello |
A bureau de change operator has given detailed testimony in the ongoing trial of former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Adoza Bello, describing how more than ₦1.425 billion moved through his accounts and companies over roughly two months in late 2021 and early 2022 for the purchase of foreign currencies. The funds, he said, were linked to Abba Adaudu and converted into dollars that he then handed over in cash.
Jamilu Abdullahi, testifying as the 19th prosecution witness (PW19) before Justice Maryanne Anineh of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama, Abuja, on Thursday, October 15, 2026, told the court the transactions occurred primarily between December 15, 2021, and February 21, 2022. Led in evidence by prosecution counsel Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, Abdullahi stated that he delivered the purchased currencies to Adaudu. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is prosecuting Bello alongside Umar Shuaibu Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu on a 16-count charge bordering on criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving an alleged ₦110.4 billion.
Abdullahi identified multiple cash lodgments and electronic transfers into accounts associated with him and his company, Kunfayakun Global Limited.
Examining Exhibit AR (covering transactions from July 2021 to April 2022), he confirmed several ₦10 million cash deposits made by Adaudu through the Lokoja branch. “My lord, I confirm the cash lodgments of Ten, Ten million Naira by Abba Adaudu from the Lokoja branch. My lord, I confirm I received the cash lodgments. It wasn’t for gift but for a forex transaction,” he told the court. The purpose, he explained, was the purchase of United States dollars.
He pointed to a January 18, 2022, transfer from Keyless Limited (which he said belonged to Adaudu) and insisted it was likewise for foreign exchange rather than a gift. On deposits dated February 22, 2022—₦9 million, ₦8 million and another ₦8 million recorded in his name via the Lokoja branch—Abdullahi denied making them personally. “In fact, I have never been to that branch in my life, but my name has been used as a beneficiary as any other person’s name can be used as the receiver, and it was a dollar transaction for Abba Adaudu,” he said.
Similar explanations covered cash lodgments on March 10 and 11, 2022. According to the witness, the names appearing in the narrations depended on Adaudu’s instructions: “My lord, I get to know the cash was paid on Abba Adaudu’s behalf because whenever he makes a lodgment of cash in my account, the indicating narration is Abba Adaudu or Jamilu Abdullahi or any other name of their choice.”
He consistently delivered the converted forex to Adaudu. “My lord, I always send the converted forex to Abba Adaudu. All the transactions at the Lokoja were from Abba Adaudu,” he added.
Abdullahi identified Exhibit AK as his personal Access Bank account at the Aminu Kano branch in Abuja. He confirmed ₦10 million cash lodgments on December 29 and 30, 2021, and January 1 and 31, 2022, but maintained these were made by Adaudu for forex purposes. Deliveries sometimes occurred at Abdullahi’s office and at other times at Adaudu’s office in Area 8, Garki, Abuja.
Larger transfers featured prominently. He confirmed a ₦100 million credit to Kunfayakun Global Limited from Keyless Nature Limited through FCMB Zone 4 in 2021, which he attributed to Adaudu, along with a ₦400 million transfer linked to the same entity.
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Multiple ₦100 million transfers totaling ₦600 million arrived from Ejadams Essence Limited on February 18, 2022; he said that company also belonged to Adaudu. An additional ₦325 million transfer through Ejadams Essence Limited on February 21, 2022, was similarly described as forex-related, with the currencies delivered to Adaudu. These larger movements help account for the overall ₦1.425 billion figure cited for the roughly two-month window.
The witness further testified about accounts associated with Forza Oil, Alyeshua and Whales Oil and Gas. He said these were used to make payments to the American International School, Abuja (AISA), for school fees on behalf of children whose names and account details Adaudu supplied.
Abdullahi identified Fatima Bello, Zahra Bello and Na’ima Bello as familiar names linked to those transactions. He transferred funds to the school’s account using the provided details and identified Exhibits AX 10 (1–4)—described as telexes—as receipts he sent to Adaudu as proof of completion.
He received no complaints about the payments.
Under cross-examination by counsel to the first and second defendants, Abdullahi Yahaya, SAN, the witness stated he had no direct dealings with any of the defendants. Asked about the total amount given to Adaudu, he said he could not recall an exact sum because the transactions were numerous: “I gave Abba Adaudu the cash and I have evidence.” Justice Anineh adjourned the matter to October 27 and November 24, 2026, for continuation of trial.
Broader Context of the Case
Yahaya Bello served as governor of Kogi State from 2016 until 2024. The EFCC’s 16-count charge, filed in 2024, alleges criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving ₦110,446,470,089. Co-defendants include Oricha (linked in earlier proceedings to Government House roles) and Hudu. A parallel money-laundering case involving an alleged ₦80.2 billion has proceeded in the Federal High Court in Abuja, where similar patterns of large cash movements and conversions have been examined.
Previous testimony in the FCT High Court proceedings has focused on extensive cash withdrawals from Kogi State Government House accounts, large inflows from the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service to private companies, property purchases (including a reported ₦950 million Maitama property paid in dollar equivalent), and school-fee arrangements at AISA. Earlier evidence indicated substantial advance dollar payments for the education of Bello’s children and a relative’s child; portions of those funds were later refunded to the EFCC by the school. Abdullahi’s account of facilitating some of those AISA payments through third-party companies fits into that established thread.
The use of bureau de change operators, cash lodgments in upcountry branches (Lokoja) credited to an Abuja-based operator who never visited those branches, and corporate vehicles such as Keyless Nature Limited and Ejadams Essence Limited illustrates a recurring pattern in Nigerian financial crime prosecutions: layering of funds through multiple accounts and intermediaries to obscure origins before conversion into hard currency. Large-volume forex transactions outside official banking channels have long been a focus of EFCC and Central Bank of Nigeria scrutiny, particularly where public funds are alleged to have been diverted.
Abdullahi’s insistence that the deposits and transfers were not gifts but commercial forex deals, combined with his ability to identify specific company linkages and delivery methods, provides the prosecution with granular transactional evidence. Defence cross-examination so far has sought to distance the defendants from direct instructions and to highlight the volume of transactions that made precise totals difficult to recall. The witness’s claim of having “evidence” of the cash deliveries may become significant in later stages.
The case remains at the prosecution stage. No convictions have been recorded. The defendants have pleaded not guilty. Proceedings continue against a backdrop of sustained public and institutional attention on accountability for state-level public funds in Nigeria. Future sittings will determine how the defence responds to this latest layer of documentary and oral evidence tying substantial naira-to-dollar conversions to an associate of the former governor.
Samuel O. Sulaimon is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Naijapiz. He covers News, Sports, Finance, Faiths, Education, Politics and Technology.
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