By Nkechi Eze
A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Maitama, presided over by Justice Maryanne Anineh, has struck out an application filed by former Kogi State governor, Yahaya Adoza Bello, seeking the release of his passport to enable him to travel to the United Kingdom for medical treatment.
The former governor, who is standing trial alongside Umar Shuaibu Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu on a 16-count charge bordering on criminal breach of trust and money laundering amounting to N110.4 billion, had through his counsel, J.B. Daudu, SAN, filed the application on June 20, 2025. Bello had asked the court to temporarily release his passport to enable him to attend a scheduled medical appointment in the UK, with a pledge to return the passport after his trip.
However, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which is prosecuting the case, opposed the application. The Commission’s spokesman, Dele Oyewale, disclosed in a statement that the prosecution counsel, Chukwudi Enebeli, SAN, urged the court to reject the request, noting that it sought to alter existing bail conditions which specifically required Bello to deposit his travel documents with the court.
Enebeli further argued that the application lacked merit as the defendant’s sureties had not been notified to reaffirm their willingness to continue standing as sureties should Bello be allowed to leave the country. He also pointed out that the former governor had filed a similar application in another court, which was still pending, amounting to an abuse of court process.
“The proper thing would have been for the defendant to retrieve his passport from the other court and then apply for a travel permit before this court. Asking both courts to release the same passport at the same time creates the risk of conflicting orders, which is an abuse of process,” Enebeli stated.
At Thursday’s resumed sitting, EFCC’s counsel, Jami’u Agburo, informed the court that the matter was slated for ruling on the application and that the prosecution was ready.
In her ruling, Justice Anineh dismissed the application, stating that her court lacked jurisdiction to make any pronouncement on the matter since the defendant’s passport was not in the custody of her court.
“A review of the court’s record revealed that the applicant had previously been ordered to deposit his passport and other travel documents with the registry of the court. However, upon further inquiry and search conducted by the court, it was discovered that the said passport was not presently in the custody of the court’s registry but with the Federal High Court,” Justice Anineh stated.
She added that Bello himself had deposed to an affidavit confirming that his passport had already been deposited with the Federal High Court as part of bail conditions granted him in an earlier proceeding.
“The simple logic is that the passport cannot be with two different courts at the same time. Since the defendant admitted depositing the passport with the Federal High Court, there is no reason making any order here in regards to the application. Courts don’t make orders in vain, and as such, this court will not make any order that will be in vain since the passport in issue is not with this court but the Federal High Court,” the judge ruled.
Justice Anineh consequently struck out the application and adjourned further hearing in the substantive case to October 8 and 9, and November 13, 2025, for continuation of trial.
