The Abuja Division of the Federal High Court on Friday granted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) ‘s application for the former governor of Kogi, Yahaya Bello, to appear in court for his trial.
Justice Emeka Nwite ruled that the former governor should have appeared before the court before making any application.
He insisted that even if the arrest warrant had been illegally obtained, the defendant (Mr Bello) should have still appeared in court.
On April 23, the judge fixed May 10 for the ruling on the former governor’s application to set aside the arrest warrant against him.
The EFCC’s lawyer, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, moved the ex-parte application for the arrest warrant on April 17.
But Mr Bello’s counsel, Adeola Adedipe, SAN, prayed the court to set aside the arrest warrant against their client on April 23.
He argued that the arrest warrant had become unnecessary since their lead counsel, Abdulwahab Mohammed (SAN), had accepted the service of the charge on behalf of the ex-governor.
Mr Adedipe argued that the arrest warrant order, having been made before the charge, ought to be set aside suo motu (on its own accord, without any request by the parties involved).
The senior lawyer argued that, contrary to the submission of Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, the lawyer who appeared for the EFCC, the ex-governor must be in court before any application could be considered a criminal case.
He argued that justice should be a three-way street: justice for the prosecution, the defendant, and the public. He added that for Mr Bello to appear in court, he must have the notion that he would get justice.