The Federal High Court in Abuja has postponed the arraignment of former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, on an alleged money laundering charge filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to June 27. The decision followed an agreement between the counsels of both parties.
However, proceedings took an unexpected turn when the EFCC attempted to withdraw its earlier request to change the arraignment date from June 13 to June 27, without informing the defense counsels.
Initially, June 27 had been agreed upon as the new date for the arraignment at the behest of the EFCC counsels. At Thursday’s hearing, Adeola Adedipe, SAN, representing Governor Bello, informed the court that EFCC’s lead counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, had approached the defense team, stating that June 13 was inconvenient and proposing a new date.
Adedipe, who was in court for another matter, expressed surprise upon learning that Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, was present for the Yahaya Bello/EFCC case. Adedipe stated, “The EFCC agreed that junior counsels would be sent to court today to formally pick a date, and the registry can confirm this. EFCC lead counsel, Kemi Pinhero, SAN, has been calling us to say today is not convenient.”
Governor Bello was reportedly ready to appear in court, but the EFCC’s request for adjournment meant his presence was unnecessary. Adedipe explained, “Under section 266 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), there are instances when defendants don’t need to come, and this is one of them. We came here to pick a date. It is the prosecuting counsel that approached us; we did not approach them. We have nothing to hide.”
The confusion among the EFCC’s legal team became evident when Rotimi Oyedepo, not the lead counsel for the EFCC, stated he was unaware of any prior agreement to adjourn the case until June 27. He remarked that he had no knowledge of any discussions that had taken place outside the courtroom.
Following this, Justice Nwite adjourned the case to June 27, with an assurance that the defendant would appear on that date.
