The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Friday, fixed July 21 to rule on an application the former Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, filed to be allowed to travel abroad for medical treatment.

Bello, who is facing a 19-count money laundering charge, in his application dated June 20, begged the court to release his international passport which was seized as part of his bail conditions, to enable him to visit a hospital in the United Kingdom, UK.

Addressing the court through his team of lawyers led by a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Prof. Joseph Daudu, SAN, the defendant said he was referred to the foreign hospital by a cardiologist.

Praying the court to exercise its discretion in his favour, Bello said he never travelled outside the country for the eight years he served as the governor of Kogi.

He pledged to travel within the court’s vacation period and return to the country for the continuation of his trial.

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“My lord, this is a harmless and non-political issue that borders on the health of the defendant who is ready and willing to face his trial.

“He has never been late to court. The little misunderstanding that happened before this trial began was politically motivated. If permitted to travel, he will return before the end of August and the court can also set a date.

“This is a criminal trial, not a political witch-hunt,” Daudu, SAN, pleaded.

However, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, opposed the application which it said amounted to an abuse of court process.

According to the prosecution counsel, Mr. Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, though the defendant claimed he was suffering from hypertension and hypercalcemia or low potassium, no evidence was adduced to show that it is a life-threatening situation.

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The prosecution argued that there are well-equipped hospitals in the country that could effectively treat the ailments.

EFCC’s counsel told the court that Bello claimed that he built ultra-modern hospitals with state-of-the-art facilities in Kogi while he was governor.

“This defendant insisted that the hospitals were built to curb medical tourism,” the prosecution counsel added as he faulted the medical report which he said did not disclose the qualification of the doctor that signed it.

More so, EFCC told the court that the defendant is facing serious allegations that have international dimensions, insisting he could be arrested by the Interpol once he leaves the shores of Nigeria.

“This defendant is already on the red notice. The EFCC sent a letter to the Interpol when he was playing games with the prosecution and he was placed on the red list.

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“He doesn’t know what is awaiting him there. He can be Hushpuppied to the US or UAE. That is a risk because it will affect this trial,” the prosecution counsel added.

Aside from noting that those who stood surety for the defendant were not served with the application, EFCC alleged that the former governor filed the same application before an Abuja high court, where he is facing another charge.

After he had listened to both parties, Justice Emeka Nwite adjourned the matter for ruling.

Meanwhile, a mild drama played out in the court after the fourth witness, Mr. Mshelia Arhyel Bata, who is a Compliance Officer with Zenith Bank, refuted the allegation that he was harassed by security operatives attached to the former governor.

Pinheiro, SAN, had shortly after the case was called up, informed the court that the witness was accosted by one of the security men, even as he demanded an investigation.

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“My lord, the witness told me that this is not the first time. A situation where a witness is harassed in a criminal case amounts to interference,” the prosecution counsel insisted.

Responding, Bello’s lawyer, Daudu, SAN, promised to investigate the issue and report back to the court.

However, shortly before the case was adjourned, the witness sought permission of the court to speak.

He told the court that, contrary to the claim of the prosecution counsel, he was neither harassed nor attacked by any security operative.

“My lord, I want to put it on record that no one harassed or intimidated me. I only had a minor altercation with someone which had nothing to do with the defendant,” the witness added.

READ ALSO:Appeal Court Stops Yahaya Bello’s Contempt Proceedings Against EFCC

Answering questions under cross-examination, the PW-4, further told the court that Bello’s name did not feature as a beneficiary in all the withdrawals that were made from accounts belonging to Kogi state.

Justice Nwite adjourned the case to July 3 and 4 for the continuation of cross-examination of the witness.

Bello, who piloted the affairs of Kogi state from 2016 to 2024, is facing trial over his alleged complicity in an N80.2 billion fraud.

EFCC alleged that he used five proxies to acquire 13 choice properties in highbrow areas of Abuja and Dubai.

It told the court that the properties were acquired with the proceeds of crime.

Besides, the anti-graft agency alleged that the former governor attempted to conceal over N3bn by handing same to proxies to keep for him.

It further told the court that the defendant wired over $700, 000 to an account he maintained with a bank in the United States of America, USA, in breach of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act.

The ex-governor pleaded not guilty to the charge, even as he was released on bail by the court, pending the determination of allegations against him.

The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has ordered the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Bayo Ojulari, to appear before it on July 10.

The committee said that it might be compelled to issue an arrest warrant if Ojulari failed to appear before on the said date.

The committee, chaired by Sen. Ahmed Wadada, issued the directive during a brief session of the committee in Abuja after officials of the NNPCL failed to appear before it as expected.

Their presence was required to respond to queries raised last week regarding a staggering N210 trillion allegedly unaccounted for by the company between 2017 and 2023, as detailed in an audit report.

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Rather than appear, the NNPCL, in a letter signed by Adedapo Segun on behalf of the GCEO and read by the committee clerk, Sani Abdullahi, requested an additional two months to prepare a detailed response.

Wadada strongly rejected the request and condemned the absence of NNPCL officials, saying it demonstrated a disregard for the committee’s summons.

“We expected representatives from the NNPCL to be before us today to answer questions thrown at them last week on issues or queries raised in the audit reports before us.

“Their absence is unacceptable, and as a result, this committee is giving the relevant officials from NNPCL ten working days from today, which ends on July 10.

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“This committee was not expecting any documents from NNPCL today but answers to the eleven questions thrown at its representatives last week.

“Therefore, the GCEO of NNPCL must appear before us on July 10 for the expected answers.”

He added that the failure to appear on the scheduled date would leave the committee with no choice but to invoke and assert all its constitutional powers to compel the GCEO’s appearance.

Wadada also declared that the committee may adopt audit queries against other defaulting agencies.

“These agencies are the FCT High Court and the Federal Ministries of Solid Minerals, Steel Development, and Finance. If they fail to appear before the committee on Tuesday next week, they will hear from us,” he said.
(NAN)

Barely 24 hours to the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, mop-up, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has expressed deep concern regarding the low number of candidates that have so far printed their examination notification slips, which will authorise them to write the examination.

JAMB had scheduled the 2025 UTME mop-up examination for Saturday, June 28, 2025.

In a statement on Friday, JAMB regretted that “As of this morning (Friday), only 12,442 out of the 98,232 scheduled candidates have printed their slips, reflecting a mere 12.6% participation rate.”

To this end, it appealed to candidates who missed their previous examinations, to reprint their slips to ensure they do not miss this opportunity.

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“We strongly encourage all candidates, particularly those, who missed the main examination, to print their notification slips promptly.

“This is a rare opportunity for them to participate in this year’s examination,” it appealed in the statement that was issued through its spokesman, Fabian Benjamin.

The statement read further: ”We urge all candidates, who missed their previous examinations, to reprint their slips to ensure they do not miss this opportunity.

“The Board is actively monitoring the printing process to determine the number of candidates who will be present for the examination.

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“Meanwhile, we have deployed both human and material resources to facilitate this exercise, ensuring that all registered candidates have the opportunity to sit the examination.

“Please note that failure to print the examination notification slip will result in forfeiture of the opportunity to take the examination.

“Once again, we urge all candidates to proceed immediately to print their slips for the examination scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday, 28th June, 2025.”