A prosecution witness has told the trial of former Kogi state governor Yahaya Bello that he paid between 50% and 60% of commissions his company earned from consultancy work to officials at the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service.
The witness, testifying as the 18th prosecution witness called by Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, gave the evidence before Justice Maryanne Anineh at the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama, Abuja, while being led by the EFCC’s lead counsel, Kemi Pinheiro SAN.
Bello is being prosecuted alongside Umar Shuaibu Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu on a 16-count charge relating to criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving N110.4bn.
The witness said his company, which works in information technology, software development and tax automation, had been engaged by the revenue service for consultancy services. “My company had business dealings with the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service. It was in connection with that that my company was invited,” he told the court.
He said the original agreement entitled the firm to a 15% commission on tax collections above N350m, a figure later revised downward as revenues grew. “The agreement was to receive 15 per cent commission on transactions above N350m. The agreement was later reviewed downward to five per cent because the internally generated revenue had grown significantly,” he said.
The witness named the former KSIRS chairman, Yakubu Oseni, as one of the officials involved in the arrangement, and said a substantial share of the commissions earned were redirected to other parties. “Between 50 and 60 per cent of the commissions were paid to certain stakeholders,” he said, telling the court that such payments fell outside the terms of the consultancy agreement when asked directly.
He said the payments, made by bank transfer and in cash, followed instructions he understood to have come via Oseni’s personal assistant, Yusuf Abdulmumuni, and later through an aide to Oseni’s successor, identified only as Abdulwahab.
The witness also walked the court through account statements for his firm, Bespoke Business Solution, noting that a nominee signatory, Jami’u Salihu, had authority to operate the account independently. “Jami’u Salihu signs independently from me,” he said.
Examining the financial records, he confirmed two inflows from the revenue service, of N92.4m on 9 August 2017 and N261.8m on 14 August 2017, both followed by withdrawals made by Salihu. He also confirmed a N70m payment to Efab Properties but said he could not say what it was for. “I wouldn’t know which property was paid for because it was not my transaction,” he said. He added that he was unaware of any complaints from the Kogi state government about the quality of the consultancy work.
Under cross-examination by the defence counsel, P.B. Daudu SAN, the witness confirmed the identities of other shareholders in his company and maintained that the consultancy services had been carried out satisfactorily.
A second witness, Jamilu Abdullahi, a bureau de change operator testifying as the 19th prosecution witness, also gave evidence, identifying several companies and accounts connected to his business. Earlier in the day, the court completed the testimony of the 17th witness, estate agent Shenu Bello Bala, who was discharged following cross-examination.
Justice Anineh adjourned the case to 14, 15, 27 and 28 October 2026 for the trial to continue.
