The federal government has filed a new 16-count allegation against Yahaya Bello, the former governor of Kogi State, Cyber Reporters report.
The new charge, filed before a federal high court in Abuja yesterday, relates to an alleged criminal breach of trust in the amount of N110, 446,470,089, in violation of sections 96 and 311 of Penal Code Law Cap.89 Laws of Northern Nigeria, 1963, and punishable under Section 312 of the same law.
However, the beleaguered immediate past governor of Kogi State has taken the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, or EFCC, to the Supreme Court for declaring him wanted.
The anti-graft agency increased its pursuit of the former governor, stressing that he will face full prosecution for an alleged N80.2 billion money laundering scheme.
The former governor, the lone defendant in a 19-count allegation brought against him by the EFCC, will face a new 16-count indictment with two Kogi State government officials, Abdulsalami Hudu and Umar Oricha.
According to the charge sheet obtained by TheCable, the defendants allegedly diverted cash from the Kogi state treasury to purchase properties in upscale districts of the federal capital territory (FCT) and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Count one of the charges alleges that Bello, Oricha, and Hudu agreed among themselves “to cause to be done an illegal act to wit: criminal breach of trust in respect of the total sum of N110, 446, 470, 089.00 (One Hundred and Ten Billion, Four Hundred and Forty-six Million, Four Hundred and Seventy Thousand, Eighty Nine Naira) entrusted to you” sometime in 2016.
In count two, the defendants were accused of spending N950 million in 2023 “for the acquisition of a property known as No: 35 Danube Street, Maitama District, Abuja”.
