{"id":93209,"date":"2025-03-06T22:55:58","date_gmt":"2025-03-06T22:55:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=93209"},"modified":"2025-03-06T22:55:58","modified_gmt":"2025-03-06T22:55:58","slug":"alleged-n80-2bn-fraud-how-yahaya-bello-paid-childrens-school-fees-in-advance-in-dollars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=93209","title":{"rendered":"Alleged N80.2bn Fraud:\u00a0How Yahaya Bello paid children\u2019s school fees in\u00a0advance in dollars"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Third Prosecution Witness, PW3, Nicholas Ojehomon in the trial of a former Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, on Thursday, March 6, 2026, narrated before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja, how the defendant paid his children’s school fees in dollars and in advance until their graduation.<\/span><\/p>\n

The witness, an internal auditor in the American International School, Abuja , AISA,\u00a0who stated that though he didn\u2019t know Yahaya Bello in person, said he was aware that he was a parent to children enrolled in the school.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI did not know the defendant personally, but I am aware that he is a parent of children enrolled in our school,\u201d he said. Upon reviewing the\u00a0school\u2019s\u00a0admission letters,\u00a0the witness\u00a0identified the\u00a0defendant\u2019s\u00a0children as Zayan Bello, Zara Bello, Farid Bello, Na\u2019ima Bello, and Nana Fatima Bello. He also confirmed that each child was admitted in different academic years.\u00a0His\u00a0examination of Exhibit 12,\u00a0which is\u00a0the agreement for prepaid tuition\u00a0fees, revealed that Ali Bello, Yahaya Bello\u2019s cousin\u00a0had contacted the school in 2021 to pay the children\u2019s fees in advance until their graduation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Prosecution\u00a0counsel, Kemi Pinheiro SAN\u00a0tendered\u00a0a set of documents in evidence that included\u00a0certified copies of the AISA admission letters\u00a0to the defendant\u2019s children, a contractual agreement for prepaid tuition until graduation, teller copies of payments, email correspondences between Ali Bello, Yahaya Bello\u2019s cousin\u00a0and the school, as well as statements of account from TD Bank USA and the American International School. There was no objection from the defence counsel, and the court admitted the documents as exhibits.<\/span><\/p>\n

When asked about the payments made, the witness confirmed that significant sums were paid for each child.\u00a0According to him,\u00a0Farid Bello\u2019s fees amounted to $90,074, Zara Bello\u2019s to $87,470, Na\u2019ima Bello\u2019s to $26,241, and Nana Bello\u2019s to $18,707.<\/span><\/p>\n

The prosecution also presented Exhibit 17, a letter from the American International School to the EFCC requesting a valid account number for the refund of\u00a0the\u00a0fees. The document indicated two amounts: $845,082.84 and $750,910.84, with the latter sum earmarked for a refund to the EFCC. Exhibit 18,\u00a0which is\u00a0a letter from the EFCC to AISA,\u00a0showed\u00a0that the refund was\u00a0to be made\u00a0in a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) account.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a witness of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mrs Abimbola Williams, has told a Federal High court in Abuja that the name of former Governor of Kogi state, Yahaya Bello did not feature in any of the account opening packages for Government House Bank account with the United Bank for Africa (UBA).<\/span><\/p>\n

The witness, a Compliance Officer with UBA also admitted before the court that Bello’s name did not feature in all the withdrawals made from the account number 1003889575 managed by UBA for the Kogi Government House Administration while Yahaya Bello was the governor.<\/span><\/p>\n

Testifying in a money laundering charges brought against the former governor by EFCC, the banker who was subpoenaed by court tendered the account opening packages for Government House Administration under the governorship of Bello. <\/span><\/p>\n

The subpeana, according to the prosecution, requested for the production of the statement of account of one Maselina Njoku, from 1st January, 2019 to 31st December, 2020. <\/span><\/p>\n

Led in evidence by EFCC counsel, Kemi Pinheiro SAN, the witness also tendered the account statements operated while Bello held sway as Chief Executive of Kogi state. <\/span><\/p>\n

She read out series of withdrawals through cheques from the account for the government House operations. <\/span><\/p>\n

Specifically, she named one Abdulsalami Hudu as the person handling fund withdrawals on behalf of the Government House. <\/span><\/p>\n

However, under cross examination by Joseph Daudu SAN, the lead counsel to Yahaya Bello, the UBA Compliance Officer said that Bello’s name did not feature in virtually all transactions in respect of the bank account. <\/span><\/p>\n

She also admitted that she was not the accounts officer of the Kogi Government House account and that the account is domiciled in Lokoja, Kogi State, and not in Area 3, Abuja, where she works. <\/span><\/p>\n

The witness confirmed 10 withdrawals in favour of Abdulsalam Hudu, in the sum of N10 million each on December 12, 2018. She said the withdrawals were done with cheques and presented across the counter.<\/span><\/p>\n

On cross-examination, the Defence Counsel, Joseph Daudu, SAN, asked the witness that, as a compliance officer, does her duty involve protecting the integrity of the bank from legal penalty, reputational damage and financial losses? “Yes,” she responded. <\/span><\/p>\n

The witness was also asked to name the three signatories on the account, which she did.<\/span><\/p>\n

For Alhaji Yakubu Ismail, who was Permanent Secretary, she said, “We only have his picture on this form.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Daudu SAN asked, “Now, in both the account opening documents and the statement of account from E1 to E72, does the name \u2018Yahaya Bello\u2019 appear anywhere?”<\/span><\/p>\n

“No, the name Yahaya Bello does not feature,” the witness responded. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Defendant’s lawyer again asked, “Please look at Exhibit 2P1-3P62. Does the name \u2018Yahaya Bello\u2019 appear anywhere in the document?”<\/span><\/p>\n

“My Lord, the name Yahaya Bello does not feature on the exhibits,” the witness answered.<\/span><\/p>\n

Daudu SAN therefore closed his cross-examination.<\/span><\/p>\n

The EFCC Counsel, moved to re-examine the witness. Daudu, SAN objected, but the judge allowed him after a brief argument. <\/span><\/p>\n

Pinheiro SAN then asked the witness if she was familiar with the signature on the document. <\/span><\/p>\n

She said she signed on behalf of one Edward Bananga.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the Defendant’s Counsel again objected and moved to cross-examine the witness.<\/span><\/p>\n

“My Lord, the witness initially disowned the signature, but under re-examination, the prosecution led her to admit it. Therefore, I have the right to challenge that admission and prove that her claim regarding the signature is incorrect,” he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Cross examination is meant to prove the accuracy or veracity of the witness. I am entitled to disprove what she said. This is in the interest of justice,” Daudu SAN added.<\/span><\/p>\n

He then asked the witness to read the document.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reading from the document, she said, “I Edward Bananga hereby certified and confirmed that……” <\/span><\/p>\n

‘I put it to you that You are not Edward Bananga,” the Defendant’s Counsel said.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I am not Edward Bananga my lord,” the witness answered.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another witness, Nicholas Ohehomon, from the American International School, was presented by the prosecution. <\/span><\/p>\n

The exhibits tendered included the school’s statements of account, admission letters of the children of the defendant and payment receipts. The witness confirmed the different classes the children were admitted into. <\/span><\/p>\n

Exhibit 12P was also tendered, which was a contractual agreement for post-paid school fees for the children. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Prosecution presented a letter from the EFCC to AIS, Abuja, through the Registrar. It was marked Exhibit 18 and an account provided by the EFCC for a refund.<\/span><\/p>\n

The court, thereafter, adjourned to\u00a0 7th March for continuation of trial.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Third Prosecution Witness, PW3, Nicholas Ojehomon in the trial of a former Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, on Thursday, March 6, 2026, narrated before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja, how the defendant paid his children’s school fees in dollars and in advance until their graduation. The witness, an internal auditor […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":93088,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5783,7],"tags":[759,2665,1543],"class_list":["post-93209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-education","category-news","tag-bello","tag-dollars","tag-fees"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=93209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93209\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/93088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=93209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=93209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=93209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}