The Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday dismissed the objection of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on the admissibility of a Federal Capital Territory High Court judgement.
The judgment is on a suit number marked FCT/HC/CV/2574/2023 between the Kogi State Chief of Staff, Ali Bello, and Incorporated Trustees of American International School.
The trial judge, Justice Emeka Nwite, in a ruling, declared that the objection of the prosecution was preemptive, stating that the court had since moved away from the platform of technicalities to the platform of substantial justice.
Recall that at the previous sitting on March 7, 2025, Justice Nwite had adjourned for ruling on the admissibility of the judgment document tendered by the Defence team led by Joseph Daudu (SAN).
The judgment document contains the decision of the FCT High Court on the issue of payment of fees or refund thereof.
While the EFCC had argued before Justice Nwite that the immediate past governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, laundered the state’s money and used part of it to pay for all his children’s tuition at the American International School Abuja, the defence team urged the court to admit into evidence a judgement already delivered on a similar issue at the FCT high which is in the favour of the defendant (Bello).
The EFCC, however, vehemently objected to the admissibility. While the admissibility of the judgement became an issue of intense disagreement between the prosecution and the defence team, Justice Nwite adjourned to deliver a ruling on it today.
Bello is facing a 19 count money laundering charges to the tune of N80.2 billion brought against him by the EFCC.
While delivering a ruling on the admissibility of the judgement document, Justice Nwite recalled that the EFCC lawyer, Kemi Pinheiro (SAN), had objected, saying the trial was a criminal trial and the defendant could not tender documents when the prosecution had not closed its case and urged the court to reject the document.
The defence lawyer, on his part, argued that the admissibility of the document was exclusively by the principle of relevance.
Justice Nwite in his ruling stated, “Before this court is a 19-count charge against the defendant bordering on money laundering. The said money from money laundering was used in paying tuition fees at the American International University.
The document sought to be tendered is a judgement of the Federal Capital Territory High Court bordering on the money said to be laundered by the defendant and used in paying tuition at the American International University”.
Justice Nwite held that the issue of tendering documents was governed by the law, looking at “whether the facts are pleaded, whether the documents are relevant, [and] whether the documents are admissible.”
He added, “Admissibility of documents is strictly guided by law as far as it satisfies the provisions of Sections 102 and 104 of the Evidence Act”.
Speaking further, he said, “The question is, at what point can the defendant tender documents?”
Justice Nwite, however, added that the court was inclined to agree with the counsel of the defendant, stating that the court was already on the platform of substantial justice.
“Consequently, the argument that the defence cannot present the document is hereby discountenanced,” the judge declared.
“Having said that, the objection of the prosecution is indeed preemptive. Consequently, the objection of the learnt counsel to the prosecution is hereby overruled.
“The document sought to be tendered is hereby marked as Exhibit 19,” Nwite said.
After the ruling, the third prosecution witness, an internal auditor at the American International School, Abuja, Nicholas Ojehomon, mounted the witness stand to continue from where he stopped at the last hearing.
He stated that he has been working with the American International School for eight years and was employed as an internal auditor.
During cross-examination led by Daudu, the witness told the court that the name of Yahaya Bello was not on the letter for the payment of the $760,910 to American International School.
He added that there was no wired transfer of fees from the Kogi State Government or any of the local governments in the state to the account of the American International School, Abuja.
Daudu asked the witness, “If you check the entire statement, is there any wired transfer coming from the Kogi State government? Any column?” The defendant’s lawyer asked.
“No, there is no such name,” the witness responded.
“What of any local government?” Daudu further asked.
The witness responded in the negative, “No.”
The witness was afterwards given Exhibit 19 (the FCT Court judgement) and asked to read out parts of the judgement; the prosecution counsel, Olukayode Enitan (SAN), objected.
He said, “The witness has already been shown the exhibit admitted as evidence. Anything that needs to be done with the judgment is not within his opinion. That is for those of us here because the witness is not a legal expert. Let us save time by not asking the witness this.”
Daudu, in his response, said, “I am not asking for the witness’s opinion. I am speaking to the document just the same way they did”.
The EFCC argued that the difference between the document and the ones they tendered “is that those documents are not judgments of the court”.
Daudu added, “But it has been tendered and admitted by the court. I should be allowed to conduct my case the way I like. My lord, what I am saying is that I should be allowed to conduct my case because it may be devastating to my case if I am not allowed to,” the defendant’s counsel stated.
The witness, therefore, read out the part of the judgment that said there was no court order for the school to return the money to EFCC or any judgment declaring the money as proceeds of money laundering.
The judgment also said AISA ought not to have paid the money to EFCC and that AISA cannot pay the EFCC or any other person monies paid under the future fee agreement without an order of the court.
In addition, the judgement held that AISA had a binding contract with the Bello family on future fee payments of school fees of children in the school, and they cannot derogate therefrom.
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