Prosecution Witness Alleges 50–60% Kickbacks in Ongoing Yahaya Bello Fraud Trial

A key prosecution witness in the ongoing N110.4 billion fraud trial of former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Adoza Bello revealed in court on Wednesday that his firm routinely remitted 50 to 60 percent of its tax consultancy commissions as kickbacks to state revenue officials.

Testifying before Justice Maryanne Anineh at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Maitama, the individual appearing as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s (EFCC) 18th prosecution witness (PW18) disclosed that these substantial paybacks were never part of any official contractual agreement. Bello is currently standing trial alongside co-defendants Umar Shuaibu Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu on a 16-count charge detailing money laundering and criminal breach of trust.

Technical Details of the Revenue Deal

Led in evidence by EFCC lead counsel Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, the witness explained that his technology firm was originally contracted by the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service (KSIRS) to deploy tax process automation, software implementation, and policy advisory support.

Initial Agreement: The firm was initially positioned to receive a 15 percent commission on all state tax collections exceeding N350 million.

Revised Terms: This rate was later slashed to 5 percent as the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) expanded and automation lowered baseline operating costs.

The Diversion: Despite the formal contract, the witness testified that over half of the generated commissions were systematically diverted to internal agency stakeholders rather than retained as corporate profit.

Cash Withdrawals and Bank Records

The witness specifically named former KSIRS Chairman Senator Yakubu Oseni and his successor, Aliyu Nda Salami, as the key administrative officials directing the financial diversions. According to the testimony, the kickbacks were processed through a mixture of direct bank transfers and physical cash handovers, managed primarily by personal assistants to the revenue bosses.

To corroborate the claims, the prosecution tendered bank account statements from Zenith Bank and Sterling Bank covering transactions from 2016 through 2022. The witness verified that an outside individual, allegedly nominated by agency leadership, was granted independent signing rights over the firm’s project account. Court records highlighted massive corporate inflows from KSIRS including separate tranches of N92.4 million and N261.8 million moving through the accounts within a single week in August 2017 which were immediately emptied by the external signatory.

The defense is expected to cross-examine the witness as the EFCC continues to layout its financial trail against the former governor and his associates.