Justice Emeka Nwite, on Thursday, ordered the temporary release of Bello’s international passport, which had been in the custody of the court, to enable him undertake the religious pilgrimage.
The Federal High Court in Abuja has granted former Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, permission to travel to Saudi Arabia to perform the 2026 lesser Hajj, despite facing trial for alleged corruption.
Justice Emeka Nwite, on Thursday, ordered the temporary release of Bello’s international passport, which had been in the custody of the court, to enable him undertake the religious pilgrimage.
Bello is currently standing trial before the court over alleged misappropriation of funds in a case instituted against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The EFCC is prosecuting the former governor for alleged money laundering to the tune of N80.2 billion, allegations which Bello denied when he was arraigned.
The approval of the travel came following an application dated January 20, supported by a 24-paragraph affidavit deposed to by Bello himself, in which he sought the court’s permission to journey to the Holy Land for supplication.
Moving the application, Bello’s lead counsel, Joseph Daudu, SAN, told the court that the request was to enable the defendant travel to the Holy Land during the month of Ramadan to observe the lesser Hajj.
Daudu informed the court that Bello had not visited the Holy Land in over eight years, adding that there was a need for him to go and pray to God to deliver him from the charges brought against him by the EFCC.
Responding, the lead prosecution counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, said the prosecution would not oppose the request for the defendant to travel for the lesser Hajj, but stressed that it would not concede any of the trial dates already fixed by the court.
In a short ruling, Justice Nwite granted the application for the release of Bello’s international passport, which had been deposited with the Registrar of the court.
According to the judge, “I have listened to the submissions of counsel in this matter and am minded to grant the application.”
The court approved the release of the passport from March 13, 2026, for a period of 10 days.
Proceedings were adjourned till Friday, January 30, for the continuation of the examination of the seventh prosecution witness.
Earlier in his testimony, the seventh prosecution witness, Olomotane Egoro, a subpoenaed official of Access Bank, told the court of cash inflows from local government areas of Kogi State into the accounts of Fazab Business Enterprise and E-Traders International Ltd.
Egoro also told the court that several cash withdrawals were made from the accounts.
Bello’s temporary release for religious purposes has been criticised in the face of high-profile corruption trials in the country.