News
Yahaya Bello Loses Bid to Hear N80bn Fraud Case
The Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, has declined the request by former Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, to transfer his N80.2 billion fraud trial from Abuja to Kogi State.
Eko Hot Blog reports that on July 2, Justice Tsoho, in a letter, agreed with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that Bello should be tried in Abuja, citing the alleged conversion and transfer of funds from Kogi State to Abuja.
Bello’s lawyer, Adeola Adedipe (SAN), had applied for the transfer of the case to Kogi State, but the EFCC’s counsel, Kemi Pinheiro (SAN), opposed the application.
Pinheiro argued that the case should be tried in Abuja, where the alleged fraud was partly committed.
In his letter, Justice Tsoho stated that the law permits the filing of the charge in either Abuja or Lokoja, Kogi State, as the offence was allegedly partly committed in both places.
He also noted that two criminal charges in the same scheme of alleged fraud were earlier filed and are being tried in the Federal High Court, Abuja, and that the court had previously refused an application to transfer the case to Lokoja.
Justice Tsoho further stated that the issue of jurisdiction is for the court to decide and that the matter should be presented in open court.
He adjourned the case until July 17 for ruling.
Bello has been having a running battle with the EFCC over the alleged fraud, and the anti-graft agency had declared him wanted following his repeated absence in court for his arraignment.
At the June 27 proceedings, the EFCC lawyer, Pinheiro, had urged the court to jail Bello’s lawyer for reneging on their commitment to produce him in court for his arraignment.
Advertise or Publish a Story on EkoHot Blog:
Kindly contact us at [email protected]. Breaking stories should be sent to the above email and substantiated with pictorial evidence.
Citizen journalists will receive a token as data incentive.
Call or Whatsapp: 0803 561 7233, 0703 414 5611
