The Federal Government has filed a new 16-count charge against the former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, in a case that has intensified scrutiny of his financial dealings.
This Nigeria news platform understands that the charges, submitted to a federal high court in Abuja on Wednesday, center around an alleged criminal breach of trust amounting to ₦110,446,470,089.
This is in violation of sections 96 and 311 of the Penal Code Law Cap.89 Laws of Northern Nigeria, 1963, and is punishable under Section 312 of the same law.
Bello, who is already facing a separate 19-count charge brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), will now appear in court alongside two officials from the Kogi State government, Abdulsalami Hudu and Umar Oricha.
According to the charge sheet obtained by newsmen, the defendants are accused of misappropriating funds from the Kogi State treasury to purchase properties in upscale areas within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Count one of the charges alleges that Bello, Oricha and Hudu, sometime in 2016 in Abuja, agreed among themselves “to cause to be done an illegal act to wit: criminal breach of trust in respect of the total sum of ₦110,446, 470, 089.00 (One Hundred and Ten Billion, Four Hundred and Forty six Million, Four Hundred and Seventy Thousand, Eighty Nine Naira) entrusted to you”. In count two, the defendants were said to have used the total sum of ₦950 million in 2023 “for the acquisition of a property known as No: 35 Danube Street, Maitama District, Abuja”.
Count three accused the defendants of using ₦100 million “for the acquisition of a property known as No: 1160 Cadastral Zone CO3, Gwarimpa I District, Abuja” in 2021.
In court four, they were accused of using ₦920 million “for the acquisition of a property known as No: 2 Justice Chukwudifu Oputa Street, Asokoro, Abuja” in 2020.
The defendants, in count five, allegedly used ₦170 million “for the acquisition of a property known as Block D Manzini Street, Wuse Zone 4, Abuja” in 2022.
In count six, they allegedly used ₦100 million to purchase a property known as No: 1773 Guzape District, Abuja in 2018. In count seven, they allegedly used another ₦100 million “for the acquisition of a property known as No: A02/176 Block 488B, Lome Street, Wuse 1, Abuja” in 2020.
In count eight, they were said to have in 2020, used ₦66 million “for the acquisition of a property known as No: 739 Aminu Kano Crescent, Wuse 2 at No. 13 Citiscape-Sharriff Plaza, Abuja”.
Count nine alleges that the trio used ₦550 million for the acquisition of a property known as No: 2934 A Cadastral Zone A06 also known as No.1 Ikogosi Spring Close, Maitama District, Abuja”, in 2020, among others.
