Once again, the EFCC witness denied doing business with Yahaya Bello

An Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) witness, Lamalan Jibrin, on Friday told the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court that he did not have any business dealings regarding any property with former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello.

Jibrin, who is the 15th prosecution witness in the trial of Bello and other defendants over the alleged N110 billion fraud, is a lawyer at the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA).

The EFCC charged Bello along with Umar Shuaibu Oricha and Abdulsalam Hudu with 16 counts of breach of trust.

The commission charged the defendants with criminal breach of trust in the amount of N110,446,470,089, among others.

However, the defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The witness was cross-examined by Bello’s attorney, Abdullahi Yahaya (SAN).

He also told the court that he never received instructions from the three defendants.

READ ALSO: EFCC Clarifies Yahaya Bello Innocent Until Court Verdict

The witness admitted that he had previously testified as the fifth prosecution witness at the Federal High Court in the lawsuit case, “FHC/ABJ/CR/550/2022” before Justice James Omotosho, where he denied having any dealings with the former governor.

He agreed that throughout the transaction, he never met any of the three defendants who were present in court.

The witness said he received instructions to be part of a property transaction located at No. Danube Street. 35, Maitama, through one Shehu Bala.

Jibrin also admitted that he was not present when the payment for the property was made, saying it was one Yakubu Haruna who informed him of the payment.

“So, since you weren’t there, you wouldn’t know in what currency the payment was made,” asked Yahaya (Bello’s advisor).

“Yes, I was told,” answered the witness.

Yahaya asked further that all he knew about the currency was what he was told.

“Yes,” answered the witness.