Corruption: Yahaya Bello’s Day in Court Not Devoid of Drama, Remanded Till Dec 10

Yahaya Bello is full of drama and theatrics, whether in or out of office. On Wednesday, his arraignment for the N110 billion corruption case by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission was full of drama. It was a more sombre version of him that left the courtroom having been placed in custody till December 10, 2024, by the court.

It was the end of a cat and rat game between the law enforcement agency of government and the former Kogi State governor known in office as the “white lion”. His arrest on Tuesday was still full of drama as it was reported that he surrendered himself to the EFCC by driving his vehicle into their premises, but the EFCC said he was arrested but did not give details of where and how though it stated the time of arrest as 12:54 pm.

The anti-graft agency docked him alongside two officials of the Kogi State government- Umar Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu- who were cited as 2nd and 3rd defendants in the matter.

Trial Justice Maryann Anenih remanded the trio in custody of the EFCC after they pleaded not guilty to the charge against them. This indirectly revoked the bail earlier granted to the other two persons charged along with him.

The court then fixed December 10 to rule on separate bail applications by the defendants pending the determination of the case against them. Mr Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, told the court that Bello, who is the 1st defendant in the matter, repeatedly refused to make himself available for trial and several efforts to secure his presence before the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court where he is facing another charge, had proved abortive.

Bello’s counsel Mr. Joseph Daudu, SAN, a former President of the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, is leading the former governor’s defence. He filed the bail application on November 22, 2024. After entering their “not guilty” pleas Daudu SAN, drew the attention of the court to a bail application by his client.

The application was on six grounds, wherein the former governor argued that he enjoys the presumption of innocence under the law. He argued that granting him bail would enable him to effectively prepare his defence to the charge.

His lawyer told the court that his client was only served with a copy of the charge against him, around 11 pm on Tuesday, November 26 and that his client’s presence in court was in obedience to the summons that was issued to him.

Drama in Court

Former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, had dramatically taken over the court with a crowd of his supporters. This triggered the Judge to leave the court in anger.

Justice Anenih, who was supposed to take the former governor’s and two others’ pleas, abruptly rose and announced she would not return until the courtroom was sane.

Shortly after the judge left, Yahaya Bello, who had been sitting in the front of the courtroom, jumped up and moved toward the surging crowd. He directed his followers and sympathisers to vacate their seats and leave the courtroom. His actions helped douse the tension, as his followers left the courtroom one after another without resistance.

To ensure order, the former governor sat at the entrance of the courtroom and made sure none of his followers disobeyed the court’s order. All his aides and followers patiently obeyed his instructions and exited the court one by one.