The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, on Wednesday, called its first witness to give testimony in the N110.4bn fraud trial of the immediate past governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello.
The first witness, Fabian Nwora, an estate developer, narrated to the court how the EFCC made his firm, Efab Property Nigeria Limited, return N550 allegedly paid by one Shehu Bello for a property in Maitama, Abuja in 2020.
The EFCC arraigned ex-governor Bello on 16 counts bordering on money laundering, breach of trust and misappropriation of public funds brought against him by the EFCC.
When the matter was called on Wednesday, EFCC’s counsel, Kemi Pinheiro (SAN), told Justice Maryanne Anenih he was ready to open his case, following which the estate developer was invited into the witness box.
Though the defence counsel mounted an objection, Justice Anenih overruled them, paving the way for the witness to testify.
Giving his testimony, Nwora narrated: “I am a businessman into the property business. The name of the company is Efab Property Nigeria Limited. I am the Chairman of Efab Property. I was invited by the EFCC in February 2023. I made a written statement to EFCC on February 8, 2024.
“I was invited to EFCC for a transaction that happened between Efab Property and one Shehu Bello, regarding a property at Maitama that belonged to Efab, situated at No 1, Ikogosi Street.
“What transpired between Efab and Shehu Bello was that we put a property up for sale at Maitama and in 2020, Shehu Bello came to my office and asked for the property. We discussed the price of the property and both agreed at N550m. He negotiated from N570m to N550m.”
Nwora said that he sold the property to Shehu Bello but observed that the name on the sale agreement was Dr. Bello Ohianyi, instead of Shehu Bello.
He stated that after three years, Shehu approached Efab Property, informing them that the property was under investigation by the EFCC and he wanted to return the property.
He said Shehu returned all documents relating to the purchase and demanded a refund of the N550m that was paid.
The witness said the EFCC, however, shortly after invited Efab Property to explain what transpired between them and Shehu Bello.
He said, “The EFCC invited me, I made a statement on what happened between Efab Property and Shehu Bello. After writing the statement with the EFCC, the EFCC said the house was under investigation and we should return the entire money to the EFCC account. They gave us the account number to pay into. We firstly returned N400m and in the second batch we returned N150m.”
Nwora said after then, he had no contact with Shehu Bello or Dr. Bello Ohianyi until December 2024, when the EFCC summoned him to court to testify as a witness in the case related to his transaction with Shehu Bello at the Federal High Court.
The prosecution tendered the property’s sale agreement and other documents, which the court admitted in evidence and marked as exhibits in the case.
Earlier, J.B Daudu (SAN), the lead counsel for Yahaya Bello and his co-defendant, Shuiabu Oricha, contended that the prosecution did not provide the defence with the witness’ statement on oath.
He insisted that the witness should not testify because the defence had no prior knowledge of the witness’ testimony, describing the situation as a “hide and seek” game.
“How can I cross-examine a witness when I have not seen the statement on oath? How do I prepare for what questions to ask? Now I have to take an adjournment to prepare me for what questions to write,” Daudu said.
The counsel for the third defendant, M.A. Aliyu, canvassed a similar argument.
The prosecution counsel, however, said he had frontloaded the witness’ statement.
Pinheiro said, “My Lord, we have frontloaded the names. This is a criminal trial, where the burden to proof is on the prosecution.”
In his ruling, the judge agreed with Pinheiro, paving the way for the witness to testify.
The judge later adjourned further proceedings till April 3.
