Tuesday, Justice Maryann Anenih of the Federal Capital Territory's High Court set July 17 as the date to rule on a petition submitted by Yahaya Bello, the former governor of Kogi State, who is requesting medical leave to leave the nation.
The former governor's attorney, Joseph Daudu, SAN, informed the court at the rescheduled hearing that his client had submitted an application on June 19, 2025, and again on June 20, 2025, in response to the money laundering charges brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
According to him, the document is asking the court registrar to release the international passport of the first defendant/applicant so that he can get medical treatment.
Yahaya Bello himself deposed to a 22-paragraph statement that backed the application, which the attorney said rested on thirteen grounds stated in the motion paper.
In a counter-affidavit, the EFCC counsel argued that future proceedings might be postponed if the request was granted.
In relation to the prosecution's counter-affidavit, Daudu, SAN, stated that the Defendant's team had submitted an additional affidavit of twenty paragraphs on July 7, 2025, which was testified to by the applicant personally and included two documents.
In support of the defendant's release on bond, the Federal High Court's decision is attached as Exhibit D, and the Certified True Copy of your lordship's ruling is attached as Exhibit C.
"We humbly submit these documents to respectfully request that your lordship approve our application," he declared.
Daudu refuted the prosecution's claim that the application constituted an abuse of the legal process by pointing out that a comparable application had previously been submitted before the Federal High legal.
His main point was that the complainant was the one who filed the two charges in different courts.
Daudu, SAN argued that "it will be a futile exercise" to file an application in one court while ignoring the other.
Prosecutor Chukwudi Enebele, SAN, argued that Yahaya Bello ought to have notified his sureties about his request to leave the nation when defending the EFCC's counter-affidavit.
He claims that the sureties should determine if they are willing to be sureties for him throughout his travels.
He continued by saying that the Defendant's Counsel were creating a collision course between the FCT High Court and the Federal High Court by submitting the identical application in both locations.
According to the EFCC lawyer, "it will make mockery of our Judicial system" if the Federal High Court dismisses the application and my lord grants it.
In response, Daudu SAN stated that the sureties were previously informed about the matter of suretyship.
"We don't have to notify them," he stated.
The applicant has already submitted to trial, thus the question of whether Interpol would arrest him is moot, according to Daudu.
Nobody has ever caught him disobeying your lordship's order. The attorney continued by saying, "They themselves have forgotten about those red alerts," and he begged the court to approve the request.
Justice Anenih heard arguments from both sides and postponed a decision until July 17, 2025.
Thanks for reading: On July 17, the court will decide whether Yahaya Bello can go overseas for medical treatment