A witness presented by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Wednesday told a High Court in the Federal Capital Territory that money withdrawn from several local government accounts in Kogi State was used to pay for goods and services supplied to the councils.

Gkingmusik reports that the witness, Olomotane Egoro, who works as a compliance officer with Access Bank Plc, appeared as the tenth prosecution witness in the trial of former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello.

During the hearing, Egoro informed the court that more than ₦109 million traced to different local government accounts went into the purchase of agrochemicals, medical items, sports materials and relief supplies meant for the councils.

At the beginning of his testimony, the witness submitted 13 documents before the court.

The documents included account opening forms and bank statements linked to the Kogi State Government House Administration as well as some contractors connected to the transactions.

Lawyers representing the second and third defendants challenged the documents.

They argued that the certificate attached to them did not meet the requirements of the Evidence Act.

According to the defence team, they would address the issue in detail in their final written submissions.

The prosecution counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, responded that the objection was raised too early and was based on assumptions.

He also said he would reply fully at the final address stage.

The court decided to admit the documents for the time being and stated that it would later decide the weight to attach to them after hearing arguments from both sides, in line with criminal procedure.

While giving evidence, Egoro explained the inflow and outflow of funds in the Kogi State Government House Administration account.

He also spoke about a document marked as Exhibit AP, which contains the bank records of Fazab Business Enterprise covering transactions from January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2024.

Under questioning by defence counsel Paul Daudu, SAN, the witness confirmed that Fazab Business Enterprise had contracts with several local government councils in the state.

He said payments made to the company were tied to the supply of educational materials, medical items, farm inputs and relief materials.

He added that some of the supplies were meant for councils affected by the 2022 flood incident.

Egoro told the court that he was not the relationship manager for the local government accounts or for the accounts of the contractors involved.

He also confirmed that Yahaya Bello did not serve as chairman of any local government during the period covered by the bank statements presented in court.

When shown specific entries, the witness identified a payment of ₦14,453,900.84 made on May 6, 2022, as payment for reading materials supplied to Okene Local Government Area.

He also confirmed other payments, their descriptions and the councils they were meant for.

Throughout his evidence, the witness did not connect any of the transactions to Bello either as a beneficiary or as a signatory who approved the payments.

After the proceedings, the court adjourned the matter to March 10, 11 and 12 for further hearing.