A compliance officer with Access Bank has told the Federal High Court in Abuja that more than ₦2.5 billion from Kogi State local government councils was paid into an account linked to Fazab Business Enterprise within eight months. Testifying as a prosecution witness in the ongoing money laundering trial of former Kogi State governor Yahaya Bello, Olomotane Egoro said the funds were received between May and December 2022 through multiple transfers from various local government areas.
According to Egoro, almost all inflows recorded in May 2022 were subsequently withdrawn in cash by an individual identified in court as Yakubu Siyaka A., totalling about ₦116.6 million for that month alone. He said similar patterns of inflows and cash withdrawals continued in the following months.
The witness further stated that total inflows into the Fazab account from May to December 2022 reached about ₦2.56 billion, while cumulative cash withdrawals attributed to the same individual were about ₦582.3 million. He also detailed several transfers from the account to different companies and entities.
In a separate account linked to E-traders International Limited, Egoro testified that cash deposits totalling about ₦3.15 billion were made over an eight-month period, largely through multiple deposits not exceeding ₦10 million each at Access Bank’s Lokoja branch.
At the end of proceedings, the defence applied for the temporary release of the defendant’s passport to enable travel for lesser Hajj, an application the prosecution said it did not oppose, subject to notification of another court handling a separate case. The trial continues before Justice Emeka Nwite.
