Eight Years Behind Bars: The Fall Of A Legislative Aide Over N120.5m Job Scam

It was the end of the road for Mr. Goni Yilkan on Monday, September 22, 2025, as Justice F.E. Messiri of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Jabi, sentenced the former legislative aide and banker to eight years in prison—without the option of a fine. His crime: orchestrating a brazen employment racket worth N120.5 million.

The conviction followed a painstaking prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which dragged Yilkan before the court in October 2023 on a two-count charge of obtaining by false pretence. He stood trial alongside one Mohammed Adamu, who was eventually acquitted.

Between 2020 and 2021, Yilkan, a native of Nguru, Yobe State, convinced Mrs. Hindatu Bello that he could secure plum government jobs in highly coveted agencies—the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

Bello, acting on this false assurance, collected contributions from over 60 desperate job seekers—young Nigerians clinging to the hope of employment. In total, N120,580,550 passed through her hands and into Yilkan’s coffers. Not a single promised job materialised. Not a single kobo was returned. When the dream turned to dust, Bello petitioned the EFCC.

Prosecutor Cosmas Ugwu built the case with six witnesses and documentary evidence. The defence team, led by J.A. Oguche, fielded two witnesses, including Yilkan himself, in a bid to exonerate him. But Justice Messiri was not persuaded. In his ruling, he declared that the EFCC had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt. Yilkan was convicted, while Adamu walked free.

In handing down the sentence, Justice Messiri was unequivocal: eight years in prison for Yilkan, without the option of a fine. Thus ended the fraudulent career of a man who traded on the desperation of unemployed Nigerians, collecting millions with promises he could never keep. His victims are left with broken dreams, their money gone, while he begins a long stretch behind bars.