The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has filed 16 new fraud charges against Yahaya Bello, the former governor of Kogi State. The charges, which were presented before the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, are related to an alleged N110.4 billion fraud.
This development comes as Bello faces ongoing legal battles, including previous allegations of embezzling N80.2 billion during his time as governor.
The EFCC accused Bello, along with two co-defendants, Umar Shuaibu Oricha and Abdulsalam Hudu, of conspiring to commit a criminal breach of trust involving the misappropriation of public funds.
The charges were filed by the Federal Government, represented by EFCC counsels Kemi Pinheiro and Rotimi Oyedepo, both Senior Advocates of Nigeria, along with seven other lawyers.
The document revealed that the fraud allegedly took place in 2016, while Bello was still in office. The EFCC claims that the trio collaborated in an illegal act to misappropriate over N110 billion in public funds.
The former governor’s legal troubles have escalated since his absence at an earlier Federal High Court session in Abuja, where he was being tried for another set of corruption charges.
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