Court Grants Yahaya Bello ₦500m Bail in Alleged ₦80bn Fraud Case

A court has approved ₦500 million bail for ex-Kogi Governor Yahaya Bello amidst allegations of misappropriating ₦80 billion. Legal proceedings are ongoing.

The Federal High Court in Abuja has approved bail for Yahaya Bello, the former Governor of Kogi State, setting it at ₦500 million.

Presiding over the court session on Friday, Justice Emeka Nwite ordered that the former governor must provide two sureties of equivalent amount.

He stated that the two guarantors are required to provide an affidavit of means and must own properties in Abuja.

Furthermore, the property title documents, which are required to be in Abuja, will undergo verification by the Deputy Chief Registrar of the court.

Justice Nwite mandated that the former governor must submit his international passport to the court. Additionally, he and his two guarantors are required to provide two recent passport-sized photographs each for the court’s records.

He also ordered that Bello be held at the Kuje Correctional Center in Abuja until his bail conditions are fully met.

Bello declared his innocence regarding the alleged ₦80 billion fraud charges brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The EFCC had brought Bello before Justice Emeka Nwite at the Federal High Court in Abuja on a 19-count charge related to alleged money laundering.

At the resumed hearing, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, representing the EFCC, informed the court of his intention to withdraw a previous application that sought to shorten the initially scheduled date for arraignment.

He mentioned that the application had become outdated due to recent developments.

Joseph Daudu, SAN, the counsel for the defendants, did not raise any objections. As a result, Justice Emeka Nwite granted the request and struck out the application.

The former governor was recently detained by the EFCC on new charges amounting to ₦110 billion, awaiting his bail hearing.

The case was postponed to February 24 for the hearing to continue.