The Federal High Court in Abuja has granted permission to Mr. Ali Bello, Chief of Staff to Kogi State Governor Usman Ododo, to travel to the United Kingdom for medical treatment.
Justice Obiora Egwuatu approved the request during Wednesday’s proceedings after Bello’s counsel, Zakari Abbas, moved the motion without objection from counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abbas Muhammed.
Similarly, the court also approved a separate travel request filed by Bello’s co-defendant, Yakubu Siyaka Adabenege, allowing him to perform the 2025 Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, scheduled between July 28 and August 27.
The EFCC lawyer, Muhammed, informed the court that the matter was originally slated for continuation of cross-examination of its seventh prosecution witness, Offure Achille, a staff member of Access Bank in Lokoja. However, lead counsel to Bello, Abubakar Aliyu, SAN, was unavailable due to another engagement at the Supreme Court, prompting a request for an adjournment.
Abbas, holding brief for Aliyu, reminded the court of the pending motion filed on May 12, seeking leave for Bello to travel for follow-up cardiological care at the London Centre for Advanced Cardiology between July 30 and September 10.
Also, Nureini Jimoh, SAN, representing the 2nd to 4th defendants, urged the court to grant the May 23 application for Adabenege’s religious pilgrimage. Both motions were unopposed by the EFCC and subsequently granted.
Justice Egwuatu ordered Bello to return his international passport to the court registrar on or before September 12 and directed Adabenege to do the same by August 30. The case was adjourned to October 13 and 14 for continuation of trial.
In his affidavit, Bello recalled that the court had previously allowed him to travel for medical reasons on four occasions and he had always returned as required, surrendering his passport each time.
Meanwhile, during a recent court session on June 17, prosecution witness Achille admitted under cross-examination that Ali Bello’s name did not appear in any of the bank transactions being examined in the ongoing N3 billion money laundering trial.
She confirmed that three companies—Fazab Business Enterprise, Hyzman ARY Construction Limited, and one unnamed—received funds from Kogi local government accounts but stated the bank had received no complaints indicating the transactions were fraudulent or unauthorised.
Ali Bello, along with co-defendants Abba Adaudu, Yakubu Siyaka Adabenege, Iyada Sadat, and Rashida Bello, is facing 18 counts of money laundering related to alleged misappropriation of state and local government funds.
