By Akinwale Kasali
Again, embattled former Kogi State Governor, Yahya Bello, failed on Thursday to appear before a Federal High Court, Abuja to face charges preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Instead he wrote a letter asking that he be tried in Lokoja, Kogi State, thus querying the jurisdiction over his case by the Federal High Court, Abuja.
The EFCC had preferred charges against Bello which bothered on money laundering, breach of trust and misappropriation of public funds to the tune of about N80.2 billion.
But Bello had been playing a disappearing game with the EFFC. Before his first arraignment before the Court, Bello had escaped arrest by EFCC’s Operatives who surrounded his Abuja residence for hours while he hid inside. After a very long wait, his successor in office, Governor Ododo arrived, and according to reports, spirited Bello out and, allegedly, headed to Government House, Lokoja.
Arraigned thereafter, Bello did not show up, forcing the Court, on EFCC’s request to declare him wanted. A new date was set for his trial, again Bello was absent. But his lawyers pleaded with the Court, and gave an undertaking that he would appear on a new date. He failed, and since then, nobody has seen the former powerful Governor who has become a fugitive to the law .
On Thursday when the case came up again, Bello was still nowhere to be seen. Instead, Bello, through his team of lawyers led by Abdulwahab Mohammed, SAN, wrote the Court, and claimed that only the Federal High Court, Lokoja Division, has the territorial jurisdiction to preside over the allegations that were brought against him.
Adeola Adedipe, SAN, one of the lawyers in Bello’s team, told the court about the letter.
Addressing the Court, Adedipe said after the close of the last sitting, he reported back to his team what transpired in court and he was informed that a letter had been written on behalf of the defendant to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court.
They requested in substance, that the matter be administratively transferred to the Federal High Court, Lokoja Judicial Division, which they believe has territorial jurisdiction to handle this matter.
Adedipe, “That letter was received at the Chief Judge’s Chambers and the office of the Honourable CJ.
“We wrote the prosecution team through Mr Iseoluwa Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, on June 13, notifying him that administrative steps had been activated, whereof he was directed to provide a response to the request for transfer of the matter.”
He, however, noted that he was not aware that there had been a response by the prosecution team in compliance with the directive of the CJ.
“We are also not in receipt of any decision that has been made on this request by the CJ,” he said.
He further added that they have filed an affidavit to that effect and attached two documents referencing the same.
He told the court that he was not urging anything from the court at the moment although his duty is to the court adding that he just wanted to present the facts as they were.
But the prosecution counsel, Kemi Pinhero, asked the court to compel the defence lawyer to say why the defendant was not in court, despite an undertaking he made on June 13, to ensure his presence in court for his scheduled arraignment which has been adjourned multiple times.
Pinehero contended that the letter to the CJ did not discharge the undertaking made by Bello’s counsel at the previous sitting.
He said a situation where a petition is forwarded against a Judge to the National Judicial Council, does not stop proceedings on cases pending before the judge.
He said the court should invite Bello’s counsels to show cause why they should not be dealt with for contemptuous conduct.
He urged the trial judge, Justice Emeka Nwite, to dismiss the tales of the defence lawyer as “dilatory and a further attempt to treat this court with scorn”, and urged the Court to put Adedipe in the dock for failing to produce Bello in Court. But Adedipe countered that he was neither the Bello’s lead Lawyer, nor made any such undertaking on behalf of Bello. Instead, Adedipe applied to the Court to excuse himself from the Bello’s case and his defence.
At the time of filing this report, the Court was yet to make a decision.
