Court Fixes February 24th For Bello’s Trial, Grants N500 Million Bail

By Philip Tayo 

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Friday, has granted N500 million bail to Alhaji Yahaya Bello, the immediate past governor of Kogi State with two sureties in the like sum.

After directing the sureties to tender the title documents of the properties, which must be verified by the Deputy Chief Registrar of the Court, Justice Nwite also ordered them to swear to an affidavit of means.

According to the court, it is embedded that both the defendant and the sureties must release their recent passport photographs. 

The Court further ordered the former Yahaya Bello to surrender his international passport and not travel outside the country without permission.

However, the court affirmed that the defendant should remain at Kuje prison, pending the perfection of the bail conditions.

February 24 and 28 was slated for the  commencement of a full-blown hearing into the 19-count money laundering charge the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, preferred against the former governor.

Yahaya Bello, who governed the affairs of Kogi state from 2016 to 2024, initially pleaded his innocence to his alleged complicity in an N80.2 billion fraud.

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