Alleged N80bn Fraud: Appeal Court orders Yahaya Bello to surrender self for arraignment

The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Tuesday ordered former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello to surrender himself for arraignment in the N80 billion money laundering case pending against him at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

A three-member panel led by Hamma Barka gave the order after dismissing appeals filed by Mr Bello seeking to stop his arraignment by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

“The appellant (Mr Bello) shall obey the provision of section 396(2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) by presenting himself for arraignment in the charge before taking any other step in this matter,” the court ordered in the lead decision read by Kenneth Amadi on Tuesday.

The EFCC charged Mr Bello with 19 counts of money laundering involving over N80 billion, which he allegedly diverted from the Kogi State Government’s treasury.

Running away from trial

However, since filing the charges, the commission has not been able to bring him to court for arraignment.

The former governor has snubbed six court sessions scheduled for his arraignment.

He was scheduled to appear on 18 April, a day after the trial court ordered his arrest.

Mr Bello has skipped other court sessions scheduled for his arraignment on 23 April, 10 May, 13 June, 27 June, and 17 July.

Tuesday’s court decision is the latest in the series of judicial responses to Mr Bello’s legal efforts to stop his trial.

In June, the Court of Appeal in Abuja ruled against him in a fundamental rights case, which he held on to as an excuse for staying away from court.

He also unsuccessfully sought the transfer of his trial from the Abuja division of the Federal High Court to the Lokoja division.

On 17 July, the trial judge, Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja, also rejected an application by the former governor’s legal team to halt his trial.

Appeal court’s fresh decision

On Tuesday, the Court of Appeal unanimously reaffirmed the power of the EFCC to prosecute the former governor.

EFCC Nigeria

The court dismissed Mr Bello’s appeal against the trial judge’s decision and threw out his preliminary objection to the trial.

Mr Bello challenged the Federal High Court’s decision ordering the service of the charges and proof of evidence on his lead counsel.

However, the Court of Appeal validated the service as ordered by the trial court.

“What is more? Section 379 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) allows service on the Defendant or his legal practitioner,” Mr Amadi held in the lead court’s lead decision.

Mr Amadi also held that it was enough that Mr Bello had become aware of the pending charges. The judge said Mr Bello’s engaging of lawyers to represent him in the case was a confirmation of his awareness of the pending charges.

“In view of this, the appeal lacks merit and is accordingly dismissed. The decision of the lower court directing service on the Appellant’s lead counsel is thus affirmed,” the court added.

Delivering judgement on the second case, the Court of Appeal also validated the trial court’s decision not to entertain any of Mr Bello’s applications until he presented himself for arraignment.

The judgement touched on the decision of a Kogi State High Court judge in Lokoja, Isah Abdullahi Jamil, on a fundamental rights case filed by Mr Bello in February 2024. The High Court judge ruled in favour of Mr Bello, shielding him from arrest and prosecution by the EFCC.

Mr Bello clung to the Kogi State High Court’s judgement as an excuse for his absence from court for his arraignment.

However, the Court of Appeal described as “scandalous” the High Court’s decision shielding Mr Bello from prosecution.

“It is very clear that the purpose of the case instituted at the trial court was to shield the respondent Yahaya Bello from his criminal trial,” the Court of Appeal judge ruled.

Mr Amadi held that “no court has the power to preclude a law enforcement agent from performing its statutory functions.”

The pronouncement drew on an earlier decision of another Court of Appeal judge, Olubunmi Oyewole, ruling against Mr Bello in one of the appeals (CA/ABJ/CV/413/2024) that stemmed from the fundamental rights suit,

Mr Amadi ruled that EFCC’s appeal, prosecuted by an external lawyer of the commission, Jibrin Okutepa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, is “meritorious and is therefore allowed.”

EFCC had made futile efforts to bring Mr Bello to court.

On 17 April, it attempted to arrest Mr Bello at his residence in Abuja based on an arrest warrant issued by the trial court earlier that day.

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However, the police officers attached to Mr Bello’s house at Wuse Zone 4, Abuja, obstructed EFCC operatives.

Mr Bello was believed to have later sneaked away from the house in the convoy of his successor, Governor Usman Ododo, whose convoy suddenly emerged on the scene in the middle of the stand-off between EFCC and police operatives.

The anti-graft agency has since declared Mr Bello wanted.