A Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama, Abuja, has struck out an application filed by former Kogi State governor, Yahaya Adoza Bello, seeking the release of his passport to enable him travel to the United Kingdom for medical treatment. The ruling was delivered on Thursday, July 17, 2025, by Justice Maryanne Anineh.
Bello is currently facing trial alongside Umar Shuaibu Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu on a 16-count charge brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), bordering on criminal breach of trust and money laundering to the tune of ₦110.4 billion. At the last sitting, Bello, through his counsel, J.B. Daudu, SAN, had sought a temporary release of his travel documents, assuring the court that he would return them upon his return to the country.
However, the prosecution, led by Chukwudi Enebeli, SAN, opposed the request, arguing that the application amounted to an attempt to vary the bail conditions already imposed, which required the defendant to deposit his passport with the court. Enebeli also argued that Bello had engaged in forum shopping by filing a similar application in another court where the passport was already deposited, thereby raising the potential for conflicting judicial orders.
In her ruling, Justice Anineh agreed with the prosecution, stating that her court lacked the jurisdiction to grant the application, since the passport was not in its custody. She cited court records and a sworn affidavit by the defendant himself confirming that the document had been deposited with the Federal High Court in a previous bail condition.
“The simple logic is that the passport cannot be with two different courts at the same time,” Justice Anineh said. “Since the defendant admitted depositing the passport with the Federal High Court, there is no reason making any order here in regard to the application. Courts don’t make orders in vain.”
She subsequently adjourned the matter to October 8, 9 and November 13, 2025, for continuation of trial.
