The trial of Ali Bello, Chief of Staff to the Governor of Kogi State, Usman Ododo, before Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Maitama, Abuja, continued on Monday, February 16, 2026, with the 17th Prosecution Witness, PW17, Ahmed Audu Abubakar, linking Bello with funds from the Kogi State Government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is prosecuting Ali Bello, a nephew of former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Adoza Bello, alongside Dauda Sulaiman, on a 16-count amended charge bordering on alleged misappropriation and money laundering to the tune of \u20a610,270,556,800.00.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Led in evidence by prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), the witness, an investigator with the EFCC, identified Exhibit F as a document recovered in the course of investigation that contains details of inflows and outflows of funds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In response to the prosecution counsel\u2019s enquiry on $91,000.00 outflow, dated February 5, 2021, the witness disclosed that the amount was paid to \u201cOga Ali,\u201d a reference to the first defendant, Ali Bello.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On February 6, 2021, the witness identified an outflow of \u20a6150,000.00, released to \u201cPresido.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He explained that \u201cRashido\u201d referred to one Abdulrasheed, who came from Lokoja to transport money, stating that \u20a6150 million was moved from Lokoja to the bureau de change operator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The witness also identified entries, dated February 19, 2021, showing an endorsement of \u20a610 million paid to Ali Bello and \u20a6500,000.00 to Daud. He clarified that \u201cAlhaji Ali\u201d also refers to the first defendant, while \u201cDaud\u201d refers to the second defendant, Dauda Sulaiman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On investigation findings relating to account number 1000688500 belonging to Dantata and Sawoe Construction Company, with transfers of \u20a680 million and \u20a620 million, the witness testified that the payments were for Plot 1060, located in Gwarimpa, Abuja, made by the company. The \u20a6100 million total, he said, was paid to Dantata and Sawoe and reflected in Exhibit F.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere were 10 entries of \u20a610 million each, making a total of \u20a6100 million. The source is Maigari Murtala, an ally of the first defendant and a contact with the Bureau de Change operator,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The irrevocable power of attorney for the said property was subsequently tendered in evidence by the prosecution, marked Exhibit Q.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The prosecution counsel\u2019s attempt to tender the extra-judicial statements of the defendants, dated November 29, 30; December 1, 10, 11 and 12, 2022 for the first defendant, and November 30 and December 1, 2022 for the second defendant was objected to by counsel to the first and second defendants on the alleged ground that their admissibility did not comply with Section 15(4) and Section 17(2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA, particularly with regards to the voluntariness of audio-visual recording of statements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After listening to arguments from both sides, Justice Omotosho ruled for the immediate commencement of a trial-within-trial to determine the voluntariness of the statements, with PW17 testifying as the first prosecution witness in the sub-trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his testimony, the witness identified the statements of the defendants and affirmed that they were voluntarily made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn EFCC, we have a standard. No threats, no promises, and statements were taken in the presence of their counsel, with Z.E. Abbas being the most present,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following the proceedings in the sub-trial, the statements were admitted in evidence, as there was no further objection from counsel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Counsel to the first and second defendants cross-examined the witness. With the exhaustion of their cross-examination, Justice Omotosho discharged the witness from the witness box and adjourned the matter till February 17, 2026, for continuation of the trial.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The trial of Ali Bello, Chief of Staff to the Governor of Kogi State, Usman Ododo, before Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Maitama, Abuja, continued on Monday, February 16, 2026, with the 17th Prosecution Witness, PW17, Ahmed Audu Abubakar, linking Bello with funds from the Kogi State Government. The Economic and Financial […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":48695,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t