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A Federal High Court in Abuja has granted former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello permission to travel to Saudi Arabia for the 2026 lesser Hajj.
In a ruling delivered on Thursday, Justice Emeka Nwite ordered the temporary release of Bello’s international passport, which is currently in the custody of the court, to allow him to undertake the trip.
Bello is standing trial over alleged misappropriation of funds in a case brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
His application, filed on January 20, sought leave to travel to Saudi Arabia for supplication. The request was supported by a 24-paragraph affidavit sworn to by Bello and was moved by his lead counsel, Joseph Daudu, SAN.
Daudu told the court that the application was to enable his client to travel to the Holy Land during the month of Ramadan to observe the lesser Hajj.
He noted that Bello had not visited Saudi Arabia in more than eight years and now wished to pray for divine intervention over the charges filed against him by the EFCC.
Responding, lead prosecution counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, said the prosecution would not oppose Bello’s request to travel for the lesser Hajj but insisted that it would not forfeit any dates already fixed for his court appearances.
In his ruling, Justice Nwite said he had considered the submissions of counsel and was inclined to grant the application. He accordingly approved the release of Bello’s passport from March 13, 2026, for a period of 10 days.
The judge then adjourned proceedings until Friday, January 30, for the continuation of the examination of the seventh prosecution witness (PW7).
Earlier, PW7, Olomotane Egoro, a subpoenaed official of Access Bank, testified that funds from local government areas in Kogi State were paid into the accounts of Fazab Business Enterprise and E-Traders International Ltd.
He also told the court that several cash withdrawals were made from the accounts.
The EFCC is prosecuting Bello over alleged money laundering amounting to ₦80.2 billion, allegations which the former governor denied at his arraignment.
