The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) unexpectedly abandoned its earlier request to reschedule the arraignment of former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello from June 13 to June 27 without informing the defendant’s lawyers.
The new arraignment date of June 27 had been set at the behest of the EFCC’s legal team. During Thursday’s hearing, Bello’s counsel, Adeola Adedipe, SAN, informed the court that EFCC lawyers had initially approached the defendant’s counsel, Aliyu AbdulWahab, SAN, to change the June 13 date due to scheduling conflicts. AbdulWahab had agreed to the new date for convenience.
Adedipe expressed surprise when he learned that EFCC lawyer Rotimi Oyedepo was present in court on the originally scheduled date.
“They (EFCC) agreed that junior counsel would be sent to court today to formally pick a date. And the registry can confirm this,” Adedipe said.
“Kemi Pinhero, SAN, has been calling us to say today is not convenient,” he added. Kemi Pinhero is the lead counsel.
But for the decision of the EFCC to seek an adjournment to a future date for his arraignment, Bello was said to be ready to appear in court on Thursday.
“Under 266 ACJA there are instances when defendants don’t need to come and this is one of them.
“We came here to pick a date. Of what use will the defendant coming here be? It is the prosecuting counsel that approached us, we did not approach them. We have nothing to hide,” Adedipe noted.
Meanwhile, the court has fixed June 27 as new date for the arraignment.
