A prosecution witness, Olomotane Egoro, has said the transactions between Jan. 1, 2016 and April 2023, linked to the Kogi Government in Exhibit AH1, were done before he joined Access Bank Plc.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) charged former governor, Yahaya Bello, Umar Shuaibu Oricha and Abdulsalam Hudu with 16 counts of breach of trust.
They were alleged to have committed criminal breach of trust in respect of the sum of N110,446,470,089, among others.
Bello and his co-defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Egoro, a compliance officer with Access Bank Plc was cross-examined by the third defendant ‘s counsel , Zakari Abbas
On Exhibit AP, the banker noted that the opening package of that particular account (Fazab Business Enterprise) was not before the court.
He said he could not confirm the business for which Fazab Business Enterprise was registered, though he admitted that opening a corporate account required incorporation documents.
The witness added that he would not also know why the various local government areas paid money into Exhibit AP unless stated.
Abbas, asked if Access Bank approved all the cheques brought by one Yakubu Abenege.
“All the withdrawals were approved by the bank,” the witness responded.
“Did the bank breach any of the CBN rules?” Abbas asked.
“No, my lord,” Egoro responded.
The witness’ attention was then drawn to transactions of May 6, 2022 in Exhibit AP, where narrations were stated for the inflows.
He confirmed that the inflow into the account from Okehi Local Government was for the supply of medical items.
After cross-examination, Justice Maryann Anenih adjourned the case until Thursday, for continuation of trial.
The witness had, earlier, told the court that no banking rules were breached with respect to transactions linked to the Kogi Government House account.
The witness also said that there was no Post No Debit (PND) instruction against the account being tendered as evidence.
He noted that the name of the former governor and the 2nd defendant did not feature in the transactions.
