The Federal High Court in Abuja has rescheduled Alhaji Yahaya Bello, the former governor of Kogi State, for arraignment on June 27, 2024.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) requested that a date be set.
The former governor’s attorney, Adeola Adedipe, SAN, testified in court on Thursday regarding the EFCC’s approach to Aliyu AbdulWahab, SAN, stating that the June 13 date would not work for them and pleading with Wahab to agree to a different time.
Adedipe claimed that he was taken aback to learn that Rotimi Oyedepo, the attorney for the EFCC, was present in court.
Adedipe stated, “The registry can confirm that they (the EFCC) agreed that a junior counsel would be sent to court today to formally pick a date.”
The attorney stated that former governor Bello was prepared to appear in court on Thursday, but that the EFCC had decided to request a postponement of the arraignment date.
This is one of the situations where defendants are exempt from appearing under 266 ACJA.
“To choose a date, we arrived here. What purpose will the defendant serve by appearing here? We did not approach the prosecution attorney; they approached us. We have nothing to conceal,” said Adedipe.