The hope of the immediate past governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, to halt trial in the hearing of the N80.2bn fraud charges brought against him has been dashed by dashed by Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court Abuja, who declined his request on Friday.
Bello had asked the court to stay execution in his trial on the grounds that there is an appeal filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, before the Court of Appeal, against the contempt application filed by the defendant against the EFCC chairman, Ola Olukayode.
Justice Nwite, in his ruling rejected the application made by Bello through his lawyer Abdulwahab Mohammed.
Nwite held that “The application cannot be entertained unless the defendant is present in the court. In the absence of the defendant in court, the motion on notice filed by the complainant can only be conducted if the defendant is in court”.
Justice Nwite chided Bello, saying he is trying to make rubbish out of a criminal case by choosing to stay in his house and not respect the court orders.
More to follow…
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