…as bail application fails
A Federal Capital Territory High Court sitting at Maitama, on Tuesday, remanded the immediate past Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, in Kuje prison.
Justice Maryann Anenih issued the remand order after she adjourned the defendant’s trial till February 25, 2025.
The development came on a day the court dismissed an application the former governor filed to be released on bail, pending the determination of the case against him.
Bello, who piloted the affairs of Kogi state from 2016 to 2024, is facing trial over his alleged complicity in N110 billion fraud.
He is answering to a 16-count charge the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, preferred against him and two officials of the Kogi state government—Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu—who were cited as 2nd and 3rd defendants in the matter.
The erstwhile governor has been in detention since November 25.
The court, in a ruling on Monday, described as premature and incompetent an application he filed to be released on bail.
The court noted that Bello filed the bail application on November 22, about three days before he surrendered himself to the anti-graft agency.
Justice Anenih, who stressed that a bail application is filed to challenge the detention of a defendant, wondered why the former governor filed his motion at a time he was not in custody.
She held that the implication of Bello’s action was that he attempted to invoke the jurisdiction of the court too early.
Consequently, the instant application, having been filed prematurely, is hereby refused,” the trial judge held.
However, the court admitted the 2nd and 3rd defendants to bail in the sum of N300 million with two sureties in the like sum.
As part of the conditions for their bail, the court seized the travelling documents of the defendants.
All the defendants had on November 27 pleaded not guilty to the charge, even as trial Justice Aninih remanded them in the custody of the EFCC, pending the determination of their bail applications.
The EFCC had specifically urged the court to turn down ex-governor Bello’s request for bail.
The agency, through its team of lawyers led by Mr. Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, told the court that Bello, who is the 1st defendant in the case, repeatedly refused to make himself available for trial.
It told the court that several efforts to secure his presence before the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, where he is facing another charge, proved abortive.
More so, the EFCC challenged the competence of the bail application it noted was filed on November 22, about five days before the arraignment took place.
Consequently, it prayed the court to dismiss the bail application that Bello filed through his legal team led by a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Mr. Joseph Daudu, SAN.
Bello had in his application that was predicated on six grounds, argued that he enjoys the presumption of innocence under the law.
Insisting that he was innocent of all the allegations the EFCC levelled against him, the defendant contended that he would not be able to effectively prepare his defence if allowed to remain in detention.
The defence lawyer urged the court to ignore the EFCC’s claim that his client refused to submit himself for trial.
The charge against the defendants, marked CR/7781, borders on conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, and possession of unlawfully obtained property.
EFCC alleged that the former governor misused state funds to acquire properties, including No. 35 Danube Street, Maitama District, Abuja (N950 million), No. 1160 Cadastral Zone C03, Gwarimpa II District, Abuja (N100 million), and No. 2 Justice Chukwudifu Oputa Street, Asokoro, Abuja (N920 million).
Other properties the defendants allegedly acquired with funds stolen from the Kogi state treasury included Block D Manzini Street, Wuse Zone 4, Abuja (N170 million); Hotel Apartment Community: Burj Khalifa, Dubai (Five Million, Six Hundred and Ninety-Eight Thousand, Eight Hundred and Eighty-Eight Dirhams); Block 18, Gwelo Street, Wuse Zone 4, Abuja (N60 million); and No. 9 Benghazi Street, Wuse Zone 4, Abuja (N310.4 million).
Likewise, the defendants were accused of transferring $570,330 and $556,265 to TD Bank, USA, and possessing unlawfully obtained property, including N677.8 million from Bespoque Business Solution Limited.