Court refuses Yahaya Bello’s request to retrieve passport for medical trip over unsigned report.
Judge says medical document lacks legal weight, adjourns EFCC money laundering case to October.
SEE ALSO: Yahaya Bello Asks Court to Release Travel Documents for Medical Trip
The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has turned down a request by former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, to release his international passport so he could travel overseas for medical reasons.
Justice Emeka Nwite, who gave the ruling on Monday during the continuation of the trial involving Bello’s alleged involvement in a money laundering case filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), said the medical report submitted as part of the application was not signed. This, according to the judge, made the document legally unacceptable.
In his words, “Exhibit B is devoid of probative value and cannot be relied upon by the court.”
Bello had asked the court to allow him access to his passport to seek medical attention in the United Kingdom. His lawyer, Joseph Daudu, SAN, said the former governor had been battling hypertension for about 15 years and needed proper medical attention abroad.
To support the application, two exhibits were presented in court. Daudu argued that these documents, which included a medical report, should be enough for the court to use its discretion to favour his client.
However, the EFCC’s legal team, led by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Kemi Pinheiro, opposed the request. Pinheiro argued that the motion was an abuse of court process, pointing out that Bello had made a similar application before the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court. He also claimed that the motion lacked proper legal grounding because Bello’s sureties were not informed about it.
Justice Nwite disagreed with this argument. He clarified that the matter before the court was between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Yahaya Bello, not between the government and Bello’s sureties. He said, “The counsel to the complainant did not cite any section of the law that says sureties should be given notice or made a party in the motion on notice.”
The judge also explained that the EFCC’s position that the application was an abuse of court process could not stand, since both the Federal High Court and the FCT High Court have the same level of legal authority. He noted that while both courts had granted Bello bail in December 2024, the FCT High Court had directed him to seek court approval before travelling.
Justice Nwite then turned his attention to the documents provided in support of Bello’s application. He ruled that Exhibit B, the medical report submitted by Bello’s legal team, had no legal weight because it was not signed by the doctor who supposedly wrote it.
According to him, “The defendant has failed to place sufficient material before this court for his passport to be released for him to travel.”
As a result, the judge concluded that Bello’s application could not be granted, and said, “Consequently, this application is hereby refused.”
Justice Nwite then adjourned the case to October 7, October 10, November 10, and November 11, for further hearing and continuation of the trial.
