The immediate past Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, who is facing a 19-count charge, has written a letter to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, pleading to be allowed to face his trial in Kogi.
Ex-governor Bello, in the letter he wrote through his team of lawyers led by Mr. Abdulwahab Mohammed, SAN, maintained that only Lokoja Division of the high court has the territorial jurisdiction to entertain the allegations that were raised against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
Bello was supposed to appear at the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Thursday, but his legal team said a letter had been written to the court with the argument that only the Kogi High Court in Lokoja had the territorial jurisdiction to hear the case.
A lawyer in Bello’s team, Adeola Adedipe who addressed the court on Thursday, said the ex-governor was “requesting in substance, that this matter be administratively transferred to the Federal High Court, Lokoja Judicial Division, which we believe has territorial jurisdiction to handle this matter”.
He said: “That letter was received at the Chief Judge’s Chambers and the office of the honourable CJ. We wrote the prosecution team through Mr Iseoluwa Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, on June 13, notifying him that administrative steps had been activated, whereof he was directed to provide a response to the request for transfer of the matter”.
But he said the team did not know if a decision had been taken by the Chief Judge on the matter.
“We are also not in receipt of any decision that has been made on this request by the CJ,” he said.
He said the team had filed an affidavit to this effect and attached two documents in support.
But, the prosecution counsel, Kemi Pinhero, opposed the defendant’s application. He said the defence should rather explain why Bello was not in court, despite an undertaking made on June 13, for him to be present.
He called on the trial judge, Justice Emeka Nwite, to query Bello’s team on why they should not be sanctioned for contempt.
