No Overseas Treatment for You, Court Tells Yahaya Bello over Alleged N80.2 Billion Fraud

Justice Emeka Nwite of a Federal High Court, Maitama, Abuja, on Monday, July 21, 2025, rebuffed the petition of the former Kogi State governor, Yahaya Adoza Bello, seeking the release of his passport to facilitate travel to the United Kingdom for medical care.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is prosecuting Yahaya Bello, together with his nephew, Ali Bello, Dauda Suleiman, and Abdulsalam Hudu, on 19 counts related to money laundering amounting to N80,246,470,088.88 (Eighty Billion, Two Hundred and Forty-Six Million, Four Hundred and Seventy Thousand, and Eighty-Nine Naira, Eighty-Eight Kobo).

Justice Nwite denied Bello’s request on the grounds that Bello failed to provide adequate evidence proving that local healthcare facilities are incapable of addressing his medical condition; the medical professional from the Confluence University of Science and Technology who diagnosed him did not specify his medical expertise; the invitation letter from the UK medical consultant lacked a signature, rendering it invalid in the legal context; and that Bello intends to depart Nigeria for the UK to treat hypertension without presenting evidence of any deterioration in the ailment.

During the June 27, 2025 session, Bello, through his attorney, J.B. Daudu, SAN, appealed to the court for a temporary release of his client’s passport to enable travel to the United Kingdom for medical care.

He asserted that the defendant possessed no overseas criminal record and did not constitute a flight risk. “He has no criminal record in those countries. The defendant is not a flight risk and will return before the end of August. My Lord can even specify a return date,” he stated.