CCTV Nails Yahaya Bello: How ₦110.4bn Local Govt Funds Were Secretly Moved Via Paper ‘Cash’ Transactions, Witness Tells Court

ABUJA, NIGERIA — An Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) detective has exposed a sophisticated “in-and-out” banking scheme allegedly used to syphon ₦110.4 billion belonging to Kogi State local governments, revealing that bank CCTV cameras ultimately blew the cover on the operation.

Testifying before Justice Maryanne Anineh at the FCT High Court in Maitama, Abuja, the 20th prosecution witness, John Justice, detailed how massive sums of public money were moved between corporate accounts on paper without any physical cash ever leaving the building.

The Illusion of Cash Withdrawals

According to the EFCC investigator, the defendants and their accomplices bypassed physical cash movement by manipulating standard banking procedures.

“A customer would walk into the bank and simultaneously present a cheque withdrawal slip for one corporate account alongside a deposit slip for another,” Justice testified.

While the bank’s internal ledger system recorded these massive transactions as “cash withdrawals,” the EFCC’s review of closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage obtained from Access Bank and Zenith Bank told a completely different story.

The video records confirmed that no physical bags of cash were ever handled or moved out of the banking halls during the flagged transactions.

Tracing the Paper Trail

The anti-graft agency’s Procurement Fraud Section mapped out the precise flow of the diverted local government allocations.

The funds were first routed from local government accounts into three primary transit companies:

Hazyman Investment Limited (also operating as Hayzma)

Bimas Ventures Limited (also operating as Bibas Energy)

Fazad (operating as Forza Business Enterprise/Forza Oil and Gas)

From there, bank data analysis showed that the funds were consolidated and channeled into a final recipient entity named Keyless Nature Limited (Keyless Ventures).

The Hidden Faces

Bank Verification Number (BVN) searches quickly unmasked the individuals pulling the strings behind the corporate facades.

The EFCC linked the ultimate beneficiary, Keyless Nature Limited, directly to an individual named Abba Adaudu.

Meanwhile, the primary transit companies used to layer the funds were tied back to Yakubu Siyaka Adebenege and Iyadat Sa’adat.

Former Governor Yahaya Bello is standing trial alongside Umar Shuaibu Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu on a 16-count charge bordering on criminal breach of trust and money laundering.

The EFCC alleges that the ₦110.4 billion diverted through these paper networks was systematically used to acquire luxury properties in prime locations across Abuja and Dubai.

The trial continues as the court evaluates the bank statements and electronic evidence presented by the prosecution.