Yahaya Bello Seeks Indefinite Adjournment of EFCC Case
Former Kogi governor Yahaya Bello has asked the Federal High Court, Abuja, to adjourn indefinitely the ongoing case instituted against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). He also asked the court to vacate its arrest order on him, pending the determination of an appeal he filed at the Court of Appeal, Abuja.
Bello’s demands are contained in a letter written by Musa Yakubu, his Counsel, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). The letter was dated July 12 and addressed to the trial Judge, Justice Emeka Nwite, ahead of Bello’s arraignment scheduled for Wednesday, July 17. Bello is being tried for allegedly laundering N80 billion.
In his appeal against his trial, Bello has expressed fears over his fate if the case is left to proceed. In the Appellate case with file no. CA/ABJ/CR/535/2024, Bello is seeking that the Warrant of Arrest he says was illegally issued against him on April 17, 2024, be set aside. He also wants a return of the case file to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for reassignment to another Judge.
The appeal was filed against the decisions of the trial Federal High Court, Abuja, in Charge No. FHC/ABJ/CR/98/2024. The former governor is also seeking an order of the Appeal Court setting aside service of the EFCC Charge on him by substituted means, including the entire proceedings already conducted in the case.
In the letter, Bello requested that further proceedings in the charge be adjourned sine die, pending the determination of the appeal currently pending at the Court of Appeal, Abuja. The letter, a copy of which was sent to the National Judicial Council (NJC) and Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, was in response to a letter to Justice Nwite by the EFCC, dated July 8, 2024, and filed on July 10, 2024.
In the said letter, the EFCC requested a variation of the earlier warrant of arrest issued against Bello, additionally requesting that various security agencies be specifically directed to carry out the earlier arrest. Responding to the EFCC’s application, Bello’s counsel urged the Court to decline the request and await the outcome of the appeal pending at the Court of Appeal over the said warrant of arrest and other related pronouncements of the trial Court.
Bello’s counsel made reference to the position of the law as contained in Order 4 Rule 11(1) of the Court of Appeal Rules, 2021, and the pronouncement of the Supreme Court in the case of Vab Petroleum INC V. Momah (Supra), and a litany of other cases.
“We respectfully urge the Court to set aside and expunge from its records, the proceedings of the 27th June, 2024, including any ruling, order or directive carried out in the face of the defendant’s appeal entered on the 24th of May, 2024,” he said.
He asked the court to “adjourn further proceedings in this charge sine die, pending the determination of Appeal No: CA/ABJ/CR/536/2024 entered by the defendant, and pending at the Court of Appeal, Abuja”.
The letter read in part: “The defendant to the Charge had, on the 17th of May, 2024, filed a notice of appeal against the ruling of this Court made on the 10th of May, 2024 refusing to discharge the warrant of arrest issued against the defendant. The defendant, pursuant to the said notice of appeal, compiled and transmitted a record of appeal to the Court of Appeal and entered on the 24th of May, 2024, Appeal No: CA/ABJ/CR/536/2024.
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“Notwithstanding the foregoing, the complainant has now filed the above-referenced application seeking for the amendment of the warrant of arrest which was hitherto directed to the complainant only, to have it extended to the heads of other security and law enforcement agencies listed in the prosecuting Counsel’s letter.
“The court cannot countenance the application or do anything with respect to the aforesaid warrant of arrest or conduct further proceedings in this charge in view of the provisions of Order 4 Rule 11(1) of the Court of Appeal Rules, 2021 which is to the effect that: ‘After an appeal has been entered and until it has been finally disposed of, the Court shall be seized of the whole of the proceedings as between the parties thereto. Except as may be otherwise provided in these rules, every application therein shall be made to the court and not to the lower court.
“The warrant of arrest upon which the complainant’s application is predicated is subject of appeal in Appeal No: CA/ABJ/CR/536/2024 and, by the above-reproduced provision of the Court of Appeal rules, this Court no longer has the jurisdiction to entertain any application or do anything touching on the warrant of arrest issued on the 17th of April, 2024 as the Court of Appeal has now seized of the matter.
“By virtue of the appeal entered by the defendant, the warrant of arrest, which is the subject of the complainant’s application, is now in total abeyance pending the determination of the defendant’s appeal one way or another.
“To take any contrary step to the provisions of Order 4 Rule 11(1) of the Court of Appeal Rules, 2021, would be tantamount to undermining the Constitutional guaranteed Appellate jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal under Section 240 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), and against the grain of settled position of the law established by the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
“The apex court says, when an appeal has been entered, the lower Court no longer has the jurisdiction to do anything in the matter and ought to abide by the decision of the Appellate Court as any step taken by the trial Court in the face of such appeal is a nullity.”
The letter drew the attention of Justice Nwite to a similar case, also a criminal appeal, in which Justice Ismail Ijelu of the High Court of Lagos State stayed further proceedings, the Appellant having entered an appeal in Appeal No: CAIL/1159/2023 Between Chief Cletus Ibeto V. Federal Republic of Nigeria. The Appellant was challenging the warrant of arrest earlier issued against him, in the face of his preliminary objection challenging the jurisdiction of the lower Court to entertain the charge filed by the complainant against him.
“The Complainant’s application to you, therefore, ought not to have been filed at all or, if need be, ought to be brought before the Court of Appeal, Abuja which has now seized of the matter.
“The Complainant’s Counsel, as a senior member of the Bar, is under a duty to have brought the appeal entered by the Defendant to the attention of this Court even during the proceedings of 27th of June, 2024.
“We, therefore, respectfully urge your Lordship not to be misled or hoodwinked by the Complainant into a head-on collision with the Court of Appeal but rather tow the above-stated and well-established course of action.
“To do otherwise would be an affront on the hallowed principle of judicial hierarchy which is the very foundation of our legal system,” the letter read further. (NAN)
