EFCC heads to Appeal Court over order restraining Yahaya Bello’s arrest
The Court of Appeal in Abuja is set to hear the appeal lodged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against the order of a Kogi State High Court which restrained the anti-graft agency from arresting the immediate-past governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello.
The appeal will be heard on Monday, 22 April 2024, in Abuja.
The Kogi court, in a ruling on the 9th of February 2024, restrained the EFCC from “inviting, arresting, detaining, prosecuting” Bello pending the determination of a fundamental rights suit he filed before the court.
The anti-graft agency further approached the Federal High Court in Abuja on 17th of April 2024 Wednesday to get an arrest warrant while the Federal High Court in Kogi was delivering judgment on Bello’s fundamental human rights suit.
READ ALSO:Court restrains EFCC from arresting, detaining, prosecuting Yahaya Bello
Without an arrest warrant, EFCC also visited Bello’s Abuja home and tried to arrest him but failed.
This resulted in the inability of the former governor to be arraigned the next day in court which led Justice Nwite to adjourn for arraignment and ruling till Tuesday April 23.
Although Bello was absent to take his plea, his team of lawyers, led by Mr. Abdulwahab Mohammed (SAN), informed the court of the matter before the Appeal Court.
Mohammed told the court that it was wrong for the EFCC to apply for an arrest warrant against Bello when the same matter was already before the appeal court.
The EFCC counsel, Mr Kemi Pinehero, argued that the court could go ahead with the trial.
The EFCC, in its appeal through its solicitor, J.S. Okutepa (SAN), is seeking a stay of execution to the order of the trial court in Kogi State.
In the appeal marked CA/ABJ/PRE/RDA/CV/165MI, the anti-graft agency contested the court order on the grounds that it is a body created by statute to carry out functions specified in its Establishment Act and empowered to investigate and prosecute economic crimes as set out under sections 6 and 7 of the EFCC Act.
