The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday denied allegations that it threatened Ali Bello and his co-defendant, Dauda Sulaiman, with an electric chair to extract statements from them in the ongoing N10 billion fraud trial before the Federal High Court in Maitama, Abuja.
Testifying as the second prosecution witness in the trial-within-trial, Yazid Bawa told Justice James Omotosho that no such threat was made. Bawa, an EFCC investigator, said he had never seen an electric chair at the Commission and insisted that the defendants gave their statements voluntarily without any form of coercion. He was led in evidence by the Director of Public Prosecution, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN).
The third prosecution witness, Adamu Usman Yusuf, who headed the EFCC investigative team, also dismissed claims of intimidation. He told the court that the defendants’ counsel was present during the statement-taking process and did not raise any complaint of maltreatment. Yusuf added that the defendants even paused for lunch before continuing and that one of them declined to answer certain questions, indicating there was no pressure.
Under cross-examination, defence counsel alleged that Ali Bello was told he would “rot in jail” if he failed to implicate former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello. The witness rejected the claim as untrue. He further explained that one of the defendants was detained because he could not provide a surety, and noted that the statements, marked as exhibits, were signed after cautionary words were administered.
Ali Bello, Chief of Staff to Kogi State Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo, and Sulaiman are facing an amended 16-count charge bordering on alleged misappropriation and money laundering amounting to N10,270,556,800. Justice Omotosho adjourned the matter to February 18, 2026, for the defence to open and close its case as the court continues hearing on the voluntariness of the defendants’ statements.