Court grants Bello, son N600m bail

Ahmed Mohammed, justice of the federal high court, Abuja, has granted Haliru Mohammed Bello, former national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and his son, Abba, bail in the sum of N300m each and two sureties each in like sum.

According to the judge, Bello, who is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Abuja, will be under the supervision of the inspector-general of police while his son will be in prison custody pending the perfection of the conditions of their bail.

The accused persons are to deposit their passports at the court while one of their sureties must be a director in the federal civil service.

On Tuesday, Ali Yusuf, counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), had asked the court to remand Bello and his son, Abba, in prison custody, pending the commencement of trial.

But Ogala Osoka, counsel to Abba, prayed the court to grant his client bail on liberal terms, arguing that the accused person had been held for 41 days without trial.

He added that the offence was a bailable one, urging the court to make the conditions of bail flexible.

Also making his argument,  Abdulaziz Ibrahim, counsel to Bello, stated that the respondent was ill; hence the need for bail.

Buttressing his argument, Ibrahim explained that Bello was conveyed from a hospital in Abuja to the court in an ambulance with two nurses on stand by to attend to him in case of an emergency.

He therefore urged the court grant his client bail on self recognisance,  and in the alternative grant him bail on liberal terms.

The judge had postponed judgment on the bail application to Thursday, but remanded Abba in prison custody, and placed Bello under the supervision of the inspector-general of police.

Bello, who was brought into the courtroom in a wheel chair, appeared frail and took his plea reclining in the chair.

He pleaded not guilty to four counts of criminal breach of trust and corruption to the tune of N300m preferred against him by the EFCC.

The former acting national chairman of the PDP clutched a string of praying beads, and muttered words to himself.

Bello is among those being prosecuted by the EFCC for complicity in the arms purchase scandal.

The anti-graft agency in December 2015 arraigned Sambo Dasuki, former national security adviser (NSA); Bashir Yuguda, former minister of state for finance, and Attahiru Bafarawa, former Sokoto state governor, at the federal capital territory high court, Abuja, for multiple counts of alleged criminal breach of trust, misappropriation of funds and money laundering.

Bello is  alleged to have received N300m meant for the purchase of arms from Dasuki.

He is a former defence minister under former President Goodluck Jonathan, and was appointed acting national chairman of the PDP in May, 2015.