Kogiflame
Former Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, has dragged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to the Supreme Court for declaring him wanted.
He is facing a 19-count charge the anti-graft agency preferred against him, following his alleged complicity in money laundering, to the tune of N80.2billion.
He was billed to appear before the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday for his arraignment.
However, when the matter was called, the team of lawyers representing the former governor, led by Mr. A. M. Adoyi, drew the attention of trial Justice Emeka Nwite to the pendency of the appeal before the apex court, stressing that the affidavit of record was filed on September 23.
Adoyi said the appeal is seeking to set-aside the arrest warrant that was issued against his client on April 17.
Consequently, he urged the trial court to suspend the planned arraignment to await the outcome of the appeal before the Supreme Court.
“My lord, the appeal number is SC/CR/847/2024 and SC/CR/848/2024. We believe that the most appropriate thing to do is to await the decision of the Supreme Court in the aforesaid appeals, before taking any step for arraignment so as not to render the appellant’s appeal null or to pull the rug out of the feet of the Supreme Court,” the defence lawyer pleaded.
However, counsel for the EFCC, Mr. Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, urged the court to recommend Bello’s lawyer to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee for sanction, accusing him of helping his client to ridicule the integrity of the judiciary.
