Yahaya Bello’s ₦80.2 Billion Fraud Trial Adjourned To October 7.
The Federal High Court in Abuja has postponed the trial of former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello, accused of an alleged ₦80.2 billion fraud, until 7 October 2025. The adjournment, announced on Thursday, follows ongoing legal proceedings involving the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which has charged Bello with 19 counts of money laundering, criminal breach of trust, and misappropriation of public funds.
Justice Emeka Nwite, presiding over the case, granted the adjournment to allow further preparation and to address pending legal applications, including Bello’s request to travel abroad for medical treatment, which the EFCC has opposed. The court is set to rule on this application on 21 July 2025, alongside the continuation of the trial on 3 and 4 July. Bello, who was granted bail of ₦500 million in December 2024, remains in custody at the Nigerian Correctional Centre in Kuje, as he has yet to meet the stringent bail conditions, which include surrendering his passport and providing two sureties with properties in Abuja.
The EFCC alleges that Bello, alongside co-defendants Ali Bello, Dauda Suleiman, and Abdulsalam Hudu (who remains at large), conspired to siphon ₦80.2 billion from Kogi State’s treasury between 2016 and 2023. A key prosecution witness, Mashelia Arhyel Dada, a compliance officer at Zenith Bank, testified that over ₦1 billion was withdrawn from the state’s Government House Administration Account in just three days in 2018, using multiple ₦10 million cheques. The agency further claims that these funds were used to acquire luxury properties in Abuja and Dubai and to pay school fees for Bello’s children, including for a child not yet born at the time.
Bello’s legal team, led by Joseph Daudu, SAN, has maintained his innocence, arguing that the charges are procedurally flawed and that Bello’s absence from earlier hearings was due to legal challenges, not contempt. The former governor pleaded not guilty to all charges during his arraignment in December 2024, and his counsel has sought to introduce a prior Abuja High Court judgement that reportedly cleared Bello of related allegations, a move contested by the EFCC.
The case has drawn significant public attention, with many Nigerians closely following the proceedings as part of broader scrutiny of alleged financial misconduct by public officials. As the trial progresses, questions linger about whether Bello’s legal strategy will hold or if the EFCC’s evidence will prove decisive in this high-profile corruption case.