00:00Nigeria Anti-Corruption Police, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC has told a federal high court sitting in Abuja that the immediate past governor of Kogi state, Yahaya Bello is on international red alert or on the watch lists of security operatives abroad and if left to travel abroad for medical treatment, he could be arrested like the way and manner a Nigerian social media influencer and United States, U.S. convicted fraudster, Ramon Abarek.
00:30A. Hushpuppi was arrested, adding, the charges against the ex-governor are connected to buildings he allegedly owned in Dubai and bank transactions in the U.S. and United Kingdom, U.K., praying the court to order Yahaya Bello to undergo the medical treatment in the ultra-modern hospital the ex-governor had boasted he built in Kogi state.
00:50Details of the report are presented verbatim below as made available by the Public Relations Unit of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC on Thursday.
01:01The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Thursday, June 27, 2025, opposed an application filed by former Kogi state governor, Yahaya Adoza Bello, seeking leave of court to travel abroad for medical treatment.
01:18The application was presented before Justice Emeka N. White of the Federal High Court, Maitama, Abuja, during the resumed hearing of Bello's alleged $80.2 billion money laundering trial.
01:31His counsel, J. B. Dowdo, San, urged the court to consider the defendant's health condition as paramount and to grant him permission to travel.
01:42Dowdo informed the court that the application was brought pursuant to Section 173, 2, A, of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA, and under the court's inherent jurisdiction.
01:55He said the application was backed by a 22-paragraph affidavit deposed to by the defendant himself, including annexures such as a medical report and a letter from a consultant cardiologist.
02:08He further argued that Bello had not traveled outside Nigeria in over eight years and now required urgent medical attention which, according to him, cannot be provided even in the hospital he built.
02:20The subject of this application is the release of his passport, which was surrendered as part of his bail conditions.
02:27What should be considered is not whether there are alternatives in Nigeria but whether the defendant poses a flight risk, he said.
02:35He also claimed that the defendant has no criminal record abroad and may not pose a flight risk.
02:41He has no criminal record in those countries.
02:44The defendant is not a flight risk and will return before the end of August.
02:48My lord can even specify a return date, he said.
02:53However, prosecuting counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, San, strongly objected to the application, describing it as an abuse of court process.
03:03He argued that Bello had previously filed similar applications before another court, the current court and the FCT High Court, seeking the same relief, which he said was improper and confusing.
03:15Pinheiro advanced five main reasons the application should be denied.
03:19First, he said the motion was technically incompetent, as the sureties to Bello's bail were not informed or included in the application, thereby raising questions about their liability if the defendant fails to return.
03:33He also emphasized that the case involved money laundering, and money laundering is international in nature, referencing charges related to properties in Dubai and funds in bank accounts in the US and UK.
03:47The defendant is already under a red notice and international alert.
03:51He risks being arrested abroad and extradited.
03:54He could be hushpuppied from Dubai, Pinheiro warned, alluding to a known cybercrime case.
04:02The prosecution further discredited the medical report submitted by the defense, noting that the doctor who signed it failed to indicate his qualifications or specialization.
04:12He argued that the health concerns mentioned, such as low potassium and mild hypertension, could be managed locally.
04:20He says he has low potassium, bananas and pawpaw will handle that.
04:25This is not sufficient reason to fly to the UK, he said.
04:29He also pointed out the irony that Bello had boasted during his tenure of building an ultra-modern hospital in Coggy State.
04:36From Abuja to Lakoja is two hours.
04:40I advise him to visit that hospital rather than take a six-hour flight abroad, he said.
04:46In his reply on points of law, Daudu insisted that the sureties were not required to be parties to the motion and argued that the red notice previously issued by EFCC had lapsed following Bello's arraignment in Nigeria.
04:59He urged the court to exercise its discretion in favor of the defendant.
05:03Meanwhile, earlier in the proceedings, cross-examination of prosecution witness 4, PW4, Arian Mashaliobata, a compliance officer with Zenith Bank PLC, continued.
05:17The defense questioned his jurisdiction over several of the bank accounts admitted as exhibits, many of which were outside the branches under his direct supervision.
05:26Clarifying an earlier issue raised by the prosecution, PW4 told the court that he wished to place it on record that he was not harassed by Yahaya Bello's security team, but rather experienced difficulty in finding a seat while in court.
05:41I want it on record that the incident happened while I was trying to get a seat.
05:47I later got one and I have no issue with anyone, he said.
05:51Following all submissions, Justice Emeka N. White adjourned the matter to July 3rd and 4th, 2025, for continuation of trial and fixed July 21st, 2025, for ruling on the defendant's application to travel abroad.
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