Court summons former governor Yahaya Bello over fresh N110bn corruption case

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja on Thursday summoned former Kogi State governor Yahaya Bello to appear for arraignment on the fresh N110 billion fraud charges filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The case is separate from the N80 billion money laundering indictment against Mr Bello, which is still pending at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

On September 25, the EFCC filed the new fraud charges involving about N110 billion while still scrambling to bring Mr Bello to court for arraignment in the N80 billion money laundering case before the Federal High Court.

Both cases before the two separate courts involve alleged diversion of Kogi State Government’s funds during the eight-year tenure of Mr Bello as governor.

The trial judge overseeing the new case at the FCT High Court, Maryanne Anenih, issued, on Monday, a summons and an order for substituted service of the charges on Mr Bello. This followed an ex parte application by the EFCC. An ex parte application is designed to be heard in the absence of the adverse parties.

Moving the application, EFCC’s lawyer, Oyedepo Rotimi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), urged the court to grant a leave allowing the prosecution to serve Mr Bello via substituted means.

The court granted the application, ordering that the charges be served on the defendant at his known residence, No 4, Bengazi Street, Maitama, Abuja.

The court also ordered EFCC to publish a public summons in widely circulated national newspapers and paste it within the premises of the court.

Two other persons – Shuaibu Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu— are charged in the case along with Mr Bello.

They jointly face 16 charges of conspiracy and criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of N110.4 billion in public fund.

Charges

The charges include criminal breach of trust involving alleged diversion of more than N110 billion entrusted in Mr Bello’s care as Kogi State governor. The anti-graft agency said Mr Bello and his co-defendants diverted this fund in 2016, his first year in office.

It also alleged in various counts that Mr Bello dishonestly acquired for himself properties located in choice areas of Abuja and one in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with funds he allegedly diverted from the state government’s treasury.

For instance, the commission said the former Kogi State governor took N100 million from the government’s treasury to buy himself a property at 1160 Cadastral Zone C03, Gwarimpa II, Abuja, in 2021.

It alleged he bought another property at 35, Danubi Street, Maitama, Abuja, for himself with N950 million belonging to the state in 2023.

He allegedly bought another one at 2, Justice Chukwudifu Oputa Street, Asokoro, Abuja, with N920 million belonging to the state in 2020.

In another count, the commission alleged that Mr took N100 million from the Kogi State Government to buy himself a property known as Block D, Manzini Street, Wuse Zone 4, Abuja.

Piling legal woes

The new case increases the pressure on Mr Bello, who was fighting a pronlonged battle to stave off the Federal High Court trial before the fresh charges were filed against him.

In April, the EFCC made a futile attempt to arrest Mr Bello at his residence in Abuja. The police officers stationed at the house helped him to obstruct EFCC operatives’ move to execute a court’s arrest warrant on him. The standoff was still on when the then newly-elected Kogi State governor, Usman Ododo, arrived there and facilitated Mr Bello’s escape.

However, the EFCC shocked the public by refusing to arrest Mr Bello when he surrendered at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja on 18 September. Instead, the commission dispatched operatives to make another unsuccessful attempt to arrest him at the Kogi State Government House in Asokoro, Abuja, later that same day. The EFCC would later cite some vague reasons, including certain “backend intelligence”, as its reason for not arresting Mr Bello, despite having declared him wanted since April.

READ ALSO: EFCC speaks on Yahaya Bello’s controversial surrender, shootout operation at Kogi govt. lodge

Meanwhile, when the next court session scheduled for him to appear for arraignment came on 25 September, Mr Bello refused to show up. His lawyer who appeared on his behalf cited an appeal he filed at the Supreme Court to challenge the Court of Appeal’s judgements ordering him to surrender for trial.

The judge, Emeka Nwite, rescheduled the arraignment to 30 October.