The former Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, who has been in detention since December 10, was granted a fresh N500 million bail on Thursday by a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Maitama.
Delivering the ruling, Justice Maryann Anenih mandated that Bello provide three sureties in the same amount. The sureties must own landed properties in high-value areas of Abuja.
Additionally, the court directed Bello to surrender his international passport and prohibited him from leaving the country without prior approval.
The ex-governor, who served Kogi State from 2016 to 2024, is facing a 16-count charge filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The charges, marked CR/7781, involve conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, and possession of unlawfully obtained property.
The EFCC alleges that Bello misappropriated N110 billion in state funds, using the money to acquire properties such as:
No. 35 Danube Street, Maitama, Abuja (N950 million)
No. 1160 Cadastral Zone C03, Gwarimpa II, Abuja (N100 million)
No. 2 Justice Chukwudifu Oputa Street, Asokoro, Abuja (N920 million)
Block D, Manzini Street, Wuse Zone 4, Abuja (N170 million)
A hotel apartment at Burj Khalifa, Dubai (AED 5,698,888)
Block 18, Gwelo Street, Wuse Zone 4, Abuja (N60 million)
No. 9 Benghazi Street, Wuse Zone 4, Abuja (N310.4 million).
The EFCC further accused Bello and his co-defendants, Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu, of transferring $570,330 and $556,265 to TD Bank in the United States and possessing N677.8 million from Bespoque Business Solution Limited.
This new development follows an earlier Federal High Court ruling in Abuja that granted Bello a N500 million bail in connection to a separate 19-count charge involving an alleged N80.2 billion fraud.
