- Safiu Kehinde
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has granted former Kogi state governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, the permission to travel to Saudi Arabia to attend the 2026 lesser Hajj.
NPO Reported that Bello is currently standing trial before the court over alleged money laundering to the tune of N80.2 billion.
The ex- Kogi governor who was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) denied the allegation.
Meanwhile, Bello had, in an application dated January 20 and supported by a 24-paragraph affidavit deposed to by himself, sought the court’s permission to travel to Saudi Arabia for supplication.
The court, in its ruling delivered on Tuesday by the presiding judge, Justice Emeka Nwite, ordered the temporary release of Bello’s international passport, which had been in the custody of the court, to enable him to undertake the religious exercise.
Moving the application, his lead counsel, Joseph Daudu (SAN) told the court that the request was to enable the defendant travel to the Holy Land during the month of Ramadan to observe the lesser Hajj.
Daudu, in his client’s defense, informed the court that Bello had not visited the Holy Land in over eight years, adding that there was a need for him to go and pray to God to deliver him from the charges brought against him by the EFCC.
Reacting, the lead prosecution counsel, Kemi Pinheiro (SAN) maintained that he has no objection to the request for the defendant to travel for the lesser Hajj.
The EFCC counsel however maintained that it would not concede any of the trial dates already fixed by the court.
In a short ruling, Justice Nwite granted the application for the release of Bello’s international passport, which was deposited with the Registrar of the court.
According to the judge, “I have listened to the submissions of counsel in this matter and am minded to grant the application”.
Consequently, the court approved the release of the passport from March 13, 2026, for a period of 10 days, and adjourned proceedings till Friday, January 30th, for the continuation of the examination of the seventh prosecution witness.