Yahaya Bello: Case adjourned till May 5, gives condition to appear in court

Yahaya Bello: Case adjourned till May 5, gives condition to appear in court 

Former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello, says he is willing to appear before a federal high court in Abuja provided he will not be arrested.

He stated this on Tuesday through his lawyer Adeola Adedipe shortly before the Federal High Court Abuja adjourned the case till May 5.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is seeking to arraign Bello on 19 counts of alleged money laundering, breach of trust and misappropriation of funds to the tune of N80.2 billion.
He was initially scheduled for arraignment on April 18 but he was absent from court on the day.
At the resumed court session on Tuesday, Adedipe, a member of Bello’s legal team, said his client would have appeared in court but was worried about being taken into custody.
“The defendant wants to come to court but he is afraid that there is an order of arrest hanging on his head,” Adedipe said.
He asked the court to revoke the warrant of arrest issued on April 17 against the former governor.
Adedipe argued that the charge had not been served on his client as required by law at the time the warrant of arrest was made.
“As at the time the warrant was issued, the order for substituted service had not been made. That order was just made this morning,” he said.
“A warrant of arrest should not be hanging on his neck when we leave this court,” counsel to the defendant added.
But EFCC’s lawyer, Kemi Pinheiro, argued that for the arrest warrant to be vacated, the former governor must be arraigned and his plea taken.
Earlier, the presiding judge, Emeka Nwite, had ordered that the defendant be served the charges by substituted means through his lawyers.
The court fixed May 10 to rule on the application to vacate the warrant of arrest.