During a court hearing at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Maitama, Abuja, a witness recounted how more than $760,000 was prepaid as school fees for the children of former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello at the American International School Abuja (AISA).
Nicholas Okehone, the Internal Auditor for AISA and the 14th witness for the prosecution in the trial of the former governor, testified before Judge Maryann Anineh on Thursday.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is prosecuting Yahaya Bello along with Umar Shuaibu Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu on 16 counts of criminal breach of trust involving 110.4 billion naira.
The EFCC alleges that Bello, who held office as Kogi's governor from January 2016 to January 2024, conspired with his co-defendants to misappropriate funds belonging to the Kogi State Government.
While providing evidence led by prosecution counsel Kemi Pilawyernheiro, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Okehone stated that the former governor had four children enrolled at AISA. He confirmed this when asked if he recognized Bello, stating, "Yes, I know him as a parent. He has children in my institution. He has four children at the American International School, Abuja."
The names of Bello’s children attending the school were identified as Zahra Fatima, Na’ima, Nana Fatima Bello, and Farid Bello. The witness also mentioned Zayyan Ali Bello, the son of Ali Bello, a nephew of the former governor, as one of the beneficiaries of the school fees payments.
The EFCC presented evidence including admission letters for the children, an agreement permitting prepaid tuition until graduation, and telex communication confirming payments from TD Bank in the United States.
Documentation was also introduced showing email exchanges between AISA and Ali Bello, receipts, and bank statements from Zenith Bank and TD Bank. In addition, a letter from AISA to the EFCC requesting refund account details was provided, along with a letter from the EFCC to the school containing the designated account information at the Central Bank of Nigeria.
According to Okehone, Ali Bello was responsible for signing the prepaid fees agreement on behalf of the Bello family. This arrangement included the names of the four children already registered at the institution and referenced "Future students to be enrolled; Zayyan Ali Bello."
The witness detailed various payments made in U.S. dollars for the children’s tuition, noting specific amounts such as $99,200 from Forza Oil and Gas for Zahra Bello and $89,400 for Fatima Bello. Further payments included $11,000 from Whales Oil and Gas for Fareeda Oricha, $78,160 for Fatima Bello from Aleshua Solutions, and $42,170 for Naima Bello.
Additionally, it was revealed that Forza Oil and Gas transferred $44,700 to Naima Bello’s account at Access Bank. Payments for Zayyan Ali Bello included $100,000 from Manzi Issa of Uganda and another $90,000 from Dada Grand Merchant Limited in Uganda.
The witness confirmed that the AISA TD Bank account exhibited numerous deposit inflows which matched these transfers, with some payments recorded on September 7 totaling significant amounts.
"I affirm that all payments align with the prepaid school fees agreement," Okehone stated, confirming that a refund of $760,910.64 was made to the designated Central Bank account, as indicated by the EFCC.
In a related development, James Igbakuleh, the 11th prosecution witness, testified that a property located at No. 1058 in Wuse 2 was sold to Shehu Bello for N650 million in 2021. Igbakuleh communicated that Mr. Ali showed up in his office twice as the purchaser during the negotiations for the property.
As the defense proceeded, lawyers Paul Daudu and Z.E. Abbas reserved their right to object to the presented documents for their final submissions. Igbakuleh further clarified that no signatures of the former governor or his co-defendants were present on the deed of assignment.
The court also heard testimony from the chief accountant of Dantata and Sawoe regarding a different property sold in Gwarimpa II for N100 million, including a breakdown of payment schedules across several days. The EFCC's legal representation disputed objections from the defense regarding the authenticity of documents being public records, with the judge eventually ruling in favor of admitting the evidence into the proceedings.
Comments (0)
You must be logged in to comment.
Be the first to comment on this article!