The trial of former Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, over alleged N110.4 billion fraud saw the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) present additional bank records before the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Maitama, Abuja, yesterday.
This came as the Serving Overseer of Citadel Global Community Church, Tunde Bakare, called for urgent personal and institutional reforms to confront “entrenched corruption” within Nigeria’s justice sector.
Meanwhile, the Rector of Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja, Salisu Usman, proposed capital punishment for individuals found guilty of corruption.
Bello is being tried alongside Umar Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu on 16 counts bordering on criminal breach of trust and money laundering. The case is before Justice MaryAnne Anenih.
At the resumed hearing, the prosecution, led by Kemi Pinheiro (SAN), continued the cross-examination of the sixth Prosecution Witness (PW6), Mashelia Bata, a compliance officer with Zenith Bank. Defence counsel to the first and second defendants, Joseph Daudu (SAN), questioned the witness on entries contained in Exhibit S1, a statement of account earlier admitted in evidence.
PW6 explained that the “description” column in the statement showed transaction details, referring to entries including a N10 million cheque issued to Hudu on January 20, 2016, and another cheque payment of N2,454,400 to Halims Hotels and Tours, Lokoja. The witness, however, insisted that he did not know the purposes for which the funds were utilised.
Daudu also drew the witness’ attention to Exhibit X1, identified as the account opening documents of a company account domiciled at Zenith Bank’s Lokoja branch. The witness testified on several inflows and outflows in December 2016, including a N74.37 million credit from the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service and a cheque of N10 million to Mohammed Jami’u Sallau.
The prosecution also called PW8, Gabriel Ocha, a compliance officer with FCMB, who tendered documents relating to Kunfayakun Global Limited covering 2018 to 2024.
He testified on transactions including a N30 million debit to the American International School and several N10 million web transfers and NIBSS inflows on November 1, 2021.
Thereafter, PW9, A.D. Ojoma, a compliance officer with Sterling Bank, tendered the statement of account of Bespoke Business Solutions Limited. He identified several large credit entries, including payments from the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service running into hundreds of millions of naira in 2019.
Justice Anenih adjourned the case till Friday, January 16, 2026, for continuation of trial.
The lawyer-turned pastor warned that the persistent integrity deficit among judges and lawyers has turned the justice system into a “haven of corruption,” cautioning that without deliberate ethical reforms, the country risks remaining in perpetual bondage.
Bakare made the call while delivering the keynote address at the 22nd Chief Gani Fawehinmi Annual Lecture (Fawehinmism), organised by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ikeja Branch, with the theme, ‘Integrity Deficiency in the Justice Sector: Whither the Legal Profession’.
He lamented that many judges now regard the bench as a “work-chop”, pointing to political interference in judicial appointments and the prevalence of conflicting court judgments as some of the major challenges facing the sector.
According to him, lawyers and judges must return to the principles of “ethical lawyering”, founded on contentment, patience and diligence, stressing that members of the legal profession remain the primary custodians and defenders of the rule of law.
Bakare argued that genuine reform must begin with personal transformation, starting from the training stage of aspiring lawyers. He said ethical values should be deliberately instilled in law students, universities and the Nigerian Law School, with stronger emphasis on professional responsibility and integrity in legal education.
The Rector, who is a professor of Political Science, also argued that corrupt practices should be classified as a capital offence in Nigeria’s legal system, to deter people from engaging in the negative trend which has caused havoc, devastating effects and setbacks to the nation’s growth.
Usman made the call while delivering the 37th Inaugural Lecture Series of the Federal University, Lokoja, yesterday, at its Adankolo Campus.
The rector, in his lecture entitled ‘Corruption Versus Corruption: Unpacking The Wuru-Wuru of the Anti-Corruption Crusade In Nigeria’, decried the menace of corruption in Nigeria’s political and socio-economic landscape.
According to Usman, the time has come for the Federal Government to confront the problem, which he said has damaged the country’s global image.
He noted that the manifestation of corruption in Nigeria was a result of scarcity of living essentials (including clean water), which creates fertile ground for corruption. Basic amenities like boreholes become “democracy dividends” deployed for political leverage.
In his welcome address, the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University, Lokoja, Prof Olayemi Akinwumi, disclosed that “the inaugural lecture is a major tradition of the system that provides our professors the opportunity to share the fruits of years of teaching, research and reflection.”
