Society
Details: Fresh Move To Arrest Yahaya Bello At His Hideout
to get the politician already declared wanted to appear in court
As nationwide interest in the saga about whether former Governor of Kogi state, Yahaya Bello would have his day in court or not in the alleged N80.2Billion corruption allegation against him, anti-corruption agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has revealed renewed plan to get the politician already declared wanted to appear in court.
The anti-corruption agency is prosecuting the former Governor, alongside his nephew, Ali Bello, Dauda Suleiman and Abdulsalam Hudu on 19-count charges bordering on money laundering to the tune of N80,246,470,089.88k( Eighty Billion, Two Hundred and Forty Six Million, Four Hundred and Seventy Thousand, Eighty-Nine Naira and Eighty- eight Kobo).
But the immediate past Governor of Kogi state has refused to appear in court and escaped arrest by the whiskers through the antics of his successor Usman Ododo on Wednesday, April 17, 2024,.
Amid a testy face-off as EFCC operatives surrounded his Abuja residence, Ododo showed up and spirited him away in a clandestine manner.
He has not been seen in public since then and refuses to honour court directives to appear – despite repeated assurances that has earned his lawyers grieve that include possible reprimand by the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee, LPDC for unable to fulfil their undertakings to the court.
However on Wednesday, July 17, 2024 at the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja with Justice Emeka Nwite presiding – where the corruption case is being prosecuted – , the EFCC hinted at what would likely bring Yahaya Bello’s hiding to an end.
According to statement by the agency, EFCC’s lead counsel, Kemi Pinheiro told the court that ‘the prosecution on its part would make the necessary arrangement to bring the former governor to court as the EFCC was making efforts to liaise with other sister security agencies to “extract the defendant from the Kogi State Government house where he is hibernating”.’
The disclosure of the former Governor’s hideout by the EFCC Senior counsel corrects attempts at misdirection by some persons that Yahaya Bello is already out of the country.
