Alleged N80bn Fraud: Yahaya Bello pleads not guilty

The immediate past Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, has pleaded not guilty to the alleged N80 billion fraud case filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The anti-graft agency arraigned Bello before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court Abuja on a 19-count charge, bordering on alleged money laundering.

At the resumed hearing this morning December 13, counsel for the EFCC, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, notified the court of his intention to withdraw an earlier application for abridgment of the earlier date fixed for arraignment.

He said the application had been overtaken by events.

Counsel to the defendants, Joseph Daudu, SAN, did not object to this and Justice Emeka Nwite, accordingly granted the request, striking out the application.

Bello, who was brought before the court from Kuje prison, denied his alleged complicity in an N80.2 billion fraud.

Specifically, the EFCC alleged that Bello who was governor of Kogi State from 2016 to 2024, used five proxies to acquire choice properties in highbrow areas of Abuja and Dubai. The anti-graft agency told the court that the properties were acquired with proceeds of crime.

Besides, the anti-graft agency alleged that the former governor attempted to conceal over N3bn by handing the 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.

Among those that were fingered in the alleged fraud were the former governor’s nephew, Ali Bello, and four others: Dauda Suleiman, Shehu Bello, Rabiu Musa, and Abdulsalam Hudu, who is currently at large.

According to the EFCC, the defendant, by his action, committed public breach of trust, contrary to sections 18(a) and (c) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, and punishable under section 15 of the same Act.