Following an agreement between the attorneys for the two parties, the Federal High Court in Abuja postponed Yahaya Bello’s arraignment in the alleged money laundering case brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) until June 27, 2024. The former governor’s arraignment was scheduled for today, June 13, 2024, at the request of the EFCC attorneys.
Adeola Adedipe, Bello’s attorney, said the court during the hearing that was reopened on Thursday that the EFCC attorneys had informed Abdulwahab Mohammed, the former governor’s main attorney, that the arraignment scheduled for June 13 would not work for them. He continued by saying that everyone present at the conference decided that it would be more practical to produce the defendant in court on June 27 rather than June 13.
Adedipe expressed surprise at the prosecution’s stance, claiming that there appeared to have been a communication breakdown between Rotimi Oyedepo, the anti-graft agency’s representative, and Kemi Phinhero, chief counsel for the EFCC. On the other hand, Oyedepo stated that he was not informed of any meetings that took place outside of court or of the agreement to postpone Bello’s arraignment until June 27. The case was then postponed till June 27 by Judge Emeka Nwite following Bello’s attorney Adedipe’s promise that the defendant will show up for court on that day.
He continued by saying that often, an agreement reached outside of court that a new date should be chosen shouldn’t be sufficient to disregard the prior commitment. From January 27, 2016, till January 27, 2024, Bello served as governor of Kogi State. After that, he turned over power to Usman Ododo, a fellow member of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Armed EFCC agents besieged Bello’s home in Abuja on April 17, 2024, with the intention of arresting him. However, Ododo showed up and reportedly swept his predecessor out of the house. Following this, the EFCC proclaimed Bello wanted and issued a warning that interference with its operations would not be allowed. Lateef Fagbemi, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, supported this action.
