The Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday, September 22, 2025, secured the conviction and sentencing of a former legislative aide and banker, Mr. Goni Yilkan, for offences bordering on obtaining money by false pretence to the tune of N120.5 million. The judgment was delivered by Justice F. E. Messiri of the Federal Capital Territory High Court sitting in Jabi, Abuja.
Yilkan, a native of Nguru in Yobe State, was found guilty on a two-count charge under Section 1(1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, 2006, and sentenced to eight years imprisonment without the option of a fine.
Investigations revealed that between 2020 and 2021, Yilkan deceived Mrs. Hindatu Bello into believing he could secure employment slots in top government agencies, including the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). Acting on this assurance, Bello collected funds from over 60 jobseekers, amounting to N120,580,550, which she claimed she remitted to Yilkan. When the jobs failed to materialise, Bello petitioned the EFCC.
One of the charges read:
“That you, Mohammed Goni Yilkan, Mohammed Adamu and others at large between 3rd January 2020 and December 2021 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory with intent to defraud obtained the sum of N120,580,550 from Mrs. Hindatu Bello under the false pretence that you had the capacity to secure jobs for her candidates in various Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government of Nigeria which pretence you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.”
Yilkan was arraigned alongside one Mohammed Adamu in October 2023. During the trial, the prosecution, led by Cosmas Ugwu, presented six witnesses and tendered several documents, while the defence counsel, J.A. Oguche, called two witnesses, including Yilkan himself.
In his judgment, Justice Messiri ruled that the EFCC had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt. While Yilkan was convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison, his co-defendant, Adamu, was discharged and acquitted.
