Yahaya Bello: I'm scared of getting arrested by EFCC, but I'm eager to go in court.

Former Kogi governor Yahaya Bello claims he was afraid of being arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and so did not show up for his scheduled appearance before a federal high court in Abuja.

Bello is being charged with 19 counts by the EFCC, which include suspected money laundering, breach of trust, and theft of N80.2 billion in cash.

Bello did not appear in court on April 18, despite the fact that the arraignment was originally set for that day.

Adeola Adedipe, one of Bello's attorneys, stated during the court session that it was resumed on Tuesday that although his client was prepared to appear in court, he was concerned about being placed under arrest.
"The accused desires to attend to court, but he fears that an arrest warrant is pending against him," Adedipe remarked.

He requested that the arrest warrant against the former governor, which was issued on April 17, be revoked by the court.

Adedipe said that at the time the arrest warrant was issued, the charge had not been legally served on his client.
Because the order for alternative service had not been made at the time the warrant was issued. He stated, "That order was just placed this morning."


The defendant's attorney continued, "A warrant of arrest shouldn't be hanging around his neck when we leave this court."

But the EFCC's attorney, Kemi Pinheiro, contended that in order to get the arrest warrant revoked, the former  governor needs to be charged and enter a plea.

The sitting judge, Emeka Nwite, had earlier issued an order mandating that the defendant be served with the allegations through a different method, via his attorneys.

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The application to revoke the arrest warrant has been scheduled for hearing by the court on May 10.