ABUJA, Nigeria — The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court sitting in Maitama has dismissed an application filed by the former Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Adoza Bello, challenging the court’s jurisdiction to try him over an alleged ₦110.4 billion financial fraud.
The matter reached a turning point on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, as the trial judge swept aside the ex-governor’s preliminary objections to clear the path for the continuation of the intensive criminal proceedings.
Okay News reports that Yahaya Bello is standing trial alongside co-defendants Umar Shuaibu Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu on a 16-count criminal charge bordering on conspiracy, money laundering, and criminal breach of trust. Bello’s legal team, led by P. B. Daudu, SAN, had argued that the FCT High Court lacked territorial jurisdiction over the alleged offenses and labeled the suit an abuse of court process due to a separate, concurrent multi-billion naira money laundering charge pending before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Delivering her considered ruling, trial judge Justice Maryanne Anenih completely upheld the submissions of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) prosecution counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN. The court ruled that because the assets tied to the multi-billion naira embezzlement are situated within Abuja, and the offenses fall directly under the Penal Code, the FCT High Court is fully vested with territorial jurisdiction. Justice Anenih added that the two federal suits are fundamentally distinct in substance, law, and party composition, thereby dismissing Bello’s application for lacking absolute merit.
Following the structural breakthrough, the EFCC immediately paraded its 16th and 17th witnesses to detail the financial trail. The 17th witness, Shenu Bello, an estate agent and commodity trader, gave explosive testimony revealing how he facilitated massive cash and dollar property acquisitions on behalf of the ex-governor’s nephew, Ali Bello. The transactions included a ₦650 million acquisition of a commercial site on Durban Street in Wuse II from FSC Food Limited, a ₦100 million plot in the Guzape District, and a luxurious mansion at No. 1 Ikogosi Spring Road in Maitama bought for ₦550 million. “It was paid in United States dollars, in cash,” the witness testified under oath, detailing that even his administrative agency commissions were settled entirely in raw foreign currency. Justice Anenih subsequently adjourned the trial to Wednesday, June 17, 2026, for cross-examination and continued hearing.
