I had no business dealings with Yahaya Bello, an EFCC witness tells the court

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) witness, Baba Bappa, told the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday that he had no business dealings in any property with former governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State.

Bappa, who is the 13th prosecution witness (PW-13), told Justice Emeka Nwite while being cross-examined by the defense lawyer, Joseph Daudu, SAN, in the ongoing alleged money laundering trial of the former governor.

The witness, who said he was a surveyor and facilities administrator, admitted that he had only known the former governor as a public figure and not in connection with the real estate transaction before the court.

Earlier, the prosecuting lawyer, Kemi Pinhero, SAN, during cross-examination, asked the witness to tell the court what he knew about a property on Lot 739, Aminu Kano Crescent, Wuse II, Abuja also known as Citi Scape Sharriff Plaza.

Responding, the witness said: “Lot 739, Aminu Kano Crescent is a plaza and number 13 is a shop in the plaza.”

When asked if he knew Ali Bello, Bappa said he was one of those who had come to ask for information in the square and had shown interest in one of the shops.

After making the payment, PW-13 said that he was allotted a shop.

“He paid an initial deposit of 40 million naira. He subsequently paid the balance of 26 million naira, including agency fees.

“He was given a receipt and assigned Shop B13,” he added.

During cross-examination, the witness said he had never met Ali Bello before coming to do the investigation.

He also stated that he had given similar evidence in another court, but could not remember which court it was.

PW-12, Jamilu Abdullahi, who was earlier cross-examined by Daudu, told the court that he could not recall the evidence he had given in a similar matter before Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court.

“Look at page 32 of your testimony before Justice Egwuatu. You were asked that you did not know the source of the tuition money and you replied, ‘No, I don’t know the source,’” Daudu said.

Responding, the witness confirmed that he saw what he said on page 32 of his testimony before Justice Egwuatu.

“Is this your testimony before this court?” asked the lawyer.

“It’s been a long time. I don’t remember,” the witness replied.

The witness was then told to look at Exhibit 33(6), Page 1 and confirm that those were the account opening documents for E-Traders International Limited.

He confirmed the documents, adding that the company belonged to him and that he was the sole signatory on the account.

When exhibit 37 was presented to the witness, he also confirmed that he was the owner of Kumfayakum Global Limited.

At this point, EFCC counsel, Pinhero, intervened, saying the matter was completely irrelevant.

“My Lord, this is completely irrelevant,” he said.

Daudu, however, told the court that the prosecution’s conduct was unacceptable.

Judge Nwite then told the prosecuting attorney that he could not teach the defense how to conduct their case.

The witness was then taken to page 72 of Exhibit 37, where the registered business sector was “sale and supply of office equipment and stationery”.

He was also told to show the court, in Exhibits 33(6) and 37, where it was said, in the account opening package, that the money he would bring to the bank would come from the business of the Bureau de Change (BDC).

The witness replied that he could not be sure of the authenticity of the document.

“Do you consider the parts in which in the document filed by the prosecution that you carry out general trading activities and the sale of stationery and office machines authentic?” Daudu asked again.

“No, until I get confirmation from the CAC (Corporate Affairs Commission),” the witness replied, adding that the handwritten portion of the account opening document looked different from his handwriting.

Alternatively, he said he could have confirmed the authenticity of the handwritten portion of the document through the statement given to the EFCC.

“Show us in those two documents in which you communicated to the bank that you are a BDC operator,” the defender asked the witness.

In response he said he was not sure whether he had informed the bank or not.

“Is there anything, handwritten or typed, in those two documents that says you operate a BDC business?” Daudu asked.

“My lord, the documents before me are voluminous, I need time to go and study them,” the witness replied.

When asked whether he was a licensed BDC operator or not, he replied: “I am a licensed BDC operator. I am a director and you can confirm this through the CBN.”

He, however, said he could not remember when the license was issued to him or whether the license was part of the documents he had submitted to the bank.

Abdullahi confirmed, however, that his BDC license was not part of the documents before the court.

PW-12 confirmed that from his extrajudicial statement before the EFCC, there was nowhere where he told the commission that he was a licensed BDC operator.

He said this may have slipped his mind as he wrote the statement.

Abdullahi denied claims that he should have omitted that part from the statement because he did not want the EFCC to accuse him of operating an unlicensed BDC.

The defendant’s lawyer argued that the witness could not handle inflows or make foreign currency transfers to other entities because he was not licensed to operate as a BDC company.

“That’s why you entrusted it to your friends,” the lawyer said.

But the witness said he tendered it because of the volume of transactions.

“For other smaller transactions we made that were not beyond my capacity and the Nigerian transaction limit, we handled them through Nigerian bank accounts,” he said.

He also confirmed that the three accounts – his personal account, E-Trader and KumfayaKum – which were before the court, were naira denominated accounts.

Another witness, Shehu Bello, was called PW14 by the prosecution.

He said he was a real estate agent and commodities trader.

He recalled that the EFCC, in 2023, had called on him regarding Ali Bello, who he described as his friend.

He said he had also done business with Ali Bello in the commodities and property sector in the past.

On the property of Lot 1773, Guzape District, Abuja, the witness said he purchased it for himself and sold it to Ali Bello.

The witness also said that one Farouk Bello told him to purchase two properties which he could purchase at that time, in Wuse Zone 4 and Maitama.

He said the owner of the property purchased by Farouk Bello was Chief Nwora of Efab Properties.

Justice Nwite adjourned the case to May 7 for continuation of evidence of PW-14.