The sixth prosecution witness for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mshelia Bata, has told the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court that he was never the account officer for the Kogi State Government House Administration Account.
Although he confirmed that the account was domiciled at a bank branch in Lokoja, he clarified that he never worked in that branch.
Bata, a compliance officer with Zenith Bank Plc, made the disclosure while being cross-examined by Joseph Daudu, counsel to the immediate past governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello.
He also admitted that he was not the maker of the exhibits presented in court by the EFCC.
However, the witness confirmed that Abdulsalam Hudu, whose name appeared on several transactions in the exhibits tendered, was duly authorised to operate the Kogi State Government House Administration account.
He explained that Hudu’s name was listed on the account mandate as a signatory and agreed that a relationship manager would typically have a deeper understanding of account operations than a compliance officer.
Referring to Exhibit S2, Bata told the court that the account was opened in 2005 and identified Chris Enefola, Onekutu Daniel M., and Abdulsalami Hudu as the initial signatories.
During cross-examination, he added that Oricha Shaibu was introduced as a signatory in 2016, as reflected on page five of the mandate, while Ahmed Idris and Alhassan Omakoji were added in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
As in earlier hearings, the witness confirmed that the Central Bank of Nigeria’s withdrawal limit for government accounts was ₦10 million, and ₦500,000 for individual accounts, noting that these limits were observed in the transactions.
He further explained that the ₦10 million withdrawal limit applied to all signatories and officially recognised representatives of the account.
According to him, anyone consistently operating the account was considered a representative of the organisation.
“I can say that Abdulsalami Hudu was authorised because his name appears on the mandate,” he said.
This statement was made in response to questions regarding multiple transactions recorded in favour of Hudu.
Daudu then asked the witness to identify the beneficiaries of several ₦10 million transactions carried out on December 15, 2017 — including their names, number of withdrawals, and appearance details — which he did.
The defence counsel followed up:
“From what you have just stated, there are three variations of names. Since banks are usually strict with name consistency, how do we ascertain that the person involved in all the 19 transactions is the same individual?
How can we determine that from the withdrawal instruments?”
The EFCC’s lead counsel, Kemi Pinheiro (SAN), objected, arguing that the question was speculative and unrelated to facts in issue.
“A witness can only give evidence on facts within his knowledge, not on what might or might not have happened,” he said.
Daudu countered that the question was relevant, given the witness’s earlier admission that the 19 transactions were conducted under three different name variations.
“I am putting it to him that it is the withdrawal instruments themselves that would determine the identity of the person who carried out the transactions,” Daudu stated.
The witness maintained that he could not explain why the names differed.
“Without the introductory documents, I would not know,” he told the court.
At the previous hearing, Bata had confirmed multiple ₦10 million transactions on the Kogi State Government House Administration Account, all of which, he said, were within the approved transaction limits.
Justice Maryann Anenih adjourned the case to January 15 and 16, February 10 and 11, and March 10, 11, and 12, 2026, for the continuation of the trial.