Alhaji Yahaya Bello, the former Governor of Kogi State, said that he would willingly make himself available before the Federal High Court in Abuja over the 19-count charge brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
When he was supposed to appear in court, his legal team spoke on his behalf that Tuesday.
One of his attorneys, Mr. Adeola Adedipe, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), informed the court that Bello would have attended the hearing if not for his concern about being apprehended due to an outstanding arrest order.
According to me,” My client is eager to attend court; however, he fears possibility of arrest due to an existing warrant.”
In relation to this issue therefore, he asked that the court quash its previous arrest warrant against Bello.
Adedipe argued that it was nullity because the charges were never served on his client as required at law when the warrant was issued.
He noted that it was only during today’s proceedings when there court adopted another mode of service whereby they could serve him through his counsel.
The ex-governor’s counsel said: “The court did not allow alternative service before issuing the arrest warrant today. This is unfair because when my client leaves here, he might be arrested.”
Further, Bello’s lawyer said that EFCC had acted ultra vires.
He argued that the EFCC Act does not make any provision for consultation by the National Assembly with States in a Federal System.
He however stressed that for it to have force of law, Section 12 of 1999 constitution as amended requires ratification by State Houses of Assembly.
“This is a very important constitutional issue which touches on federalism and therefore must be addressed. As far as I am concerned, the current EFCC is an illegal entity,” concluded Bello’s legal practitioner.
However, Mr. Kemi Pinheiro SAN who appeared for the EFCC urged the court to dismiss their application and keep alive the order until Bello appears in court to stand trial.
“He cannot run away from justice while filing so many applications; he also has no right to request setting aside an arrest warrant without appearing for arraignment,” said Pinheiro.
The first priority, he said, was to locate Bello, while terming the flurry of legal motions as mere stalling tactics to delay the arraignment and disrupt the legal process.
“Under this section 396 of ACJA 2015 for any other matter a motion or objection cannot be entertained by this court until when he is arraigned,” Pinheiro added.
Also according to Pinheiro, under section 396 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) of 2015, the court is not competent to determine any objections or motions before Bello is formally charged.
The EFCC agreed that they would not execute the arrest warrant if Bello’s attorney guaranteed his presence at next scheduled hearing date.
Should his counsel undertake toward making sure that he will appear in court for the next proceeding, I can assure you that there won’t be any execution on arrest warrant. As such I will request this court as prosecutor to quash the warrant with such guarantee,” asserted Pinheiro.
It is pertinent to mention that all the legal questions concerning its legal status was already settled by the Supreme Court according to EFCC.
“This court should take an individual’s accusation for stealing money from public coffers and not a legislature or executive. The allegations involve him having used public money to purchase houses in Lagos and Maitama, as well as transferred some funds abroad” concluded the EFCC.
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