The Federal High Court in Abuja has given Yahaya Bello, a former governor of Kogi State, permission to travel to Saudi Arabia to do the 2026 smaller Hajj.
Justice Emeka Nwite agreed to the request and ordered that Bello’s foreign passport, which the court has been holding, be temporarily given back to him, according to Channels TV.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has brought a complaint against the former governor for allegedly stealing money.
Bello personally signed the application for permission to travel, and his lead lawyer, Joseph Daudu, SAN, moved it. The lawyer told the court that the plea was to let the defendant go to the Holy Land during Ramadan to see the lesser Hajj.
Daudu also told the court that Bello hadn’t been to the Holy Land in for than eight years and that he needed to go there to beg for God’s help with the accusations the EFCC had brought against him.
In response, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, the lead prosecution counsel, told the court that the prosecution did not object to the defendant’s desire to travel but would not change any of the dates that had already been set for the trial to continue.
Justice Nwite made a quick decision to grant the request and let Bello’s passport go free from March 13, 2026, for ten days.
The court then put the case on hold until tomorrow, Friday, January 30, so that the seventh prosecution witness may be questioned further.
Olomotane Egoro, a subpoenaed executive of Access Bank, informed the court earlier in his testimony about money coming into the accounts of Fazab Business Enterprise and E-Traders International Ltd. from local government areas in Kogi State. He also said that a number of cash withdrawals were made from the accounts.
The EFCC is charging Bello with money laundering that is said to have cost N80.2 billion. The former governor disputed these charges when he went to court.
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