The immediate past Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, on Wednesday, pleaded not guilty to a 16-count charge the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, preferred against him.
Bello was docked before trial Justice Maryann Anenih of a
High Court of the Federal Capital Territory sitting at Maitama, alongside two
other defendants, Umar Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu.
The defendants were accused of complicity in a N110billion
fraud.
It will be recalled that the erstwhile governor’s
whereabouts remained unknown till yesterday when he surrendered himself after a
protracted hide-and-seek game between him and the anti-graft agency.
Dressed in white caftan and blue cap, Bello, mounted the
dock around 9:45am.
The charge against the defendants, marked: CR/7781, borders
on conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and possession of unlawfully obtained
property.
Specifically, the EFCC alleged that the former governor
misused state funds to acquire properties, including No. 35 Danube Street,
Maitama District, Abuja (N950 million), No. 1160 Cadastral Zone C03, Gwarimpa
II District, Abuja (N100 million), and No. 2 Justice Chukwudifu Oputa Street,
Asokoro, Abuja (N920 million).
Other properties the defendants allegedly acquired with
funds stolen from the Kogi state treasury, included Block D Manzini Street,
Wuse Zone 4, Abuja (N170 million), Hotel Apartment Community: Burj Khalifa, Dubai
(Five Million, Six Hundred and Ninety-Eight Thousand, Eight Hundred and
Eighty-Eight Dirhams), Block 18, Gwelo Street, Wuse Zone 4, Abuja (N60
million), and No. 9 Benghazi Street, Wuse Zone 4, Abuja (N310.4 million).
More so, the defendants were accused of transferring
$570,330 and $556,265 to TD Bank, USA, and possessing unlawfully obtained
property, including N677.8 million from Bespoque Business Solution Limited.
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