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By Lizzy Chirkpi
Former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, has once again met a judicial stumbling block in his bid to retrieve his international passport, which he claims is necessary for medical travel abroad.
At the resumed hearing on Thursday, July 17, 2025, Justice Maryanne Anenih of the FCT High Court firmly ruled that the court could not grant Bello’s request because the international passport in question was not in its custody but with the Federal High Court, where the former governor is facing a separate criminal charge.
The ruling followed an application filed by Bello’s counsel, Chief Joseph Daudu (SAN), who on June 20, 2025, sought the release of the ex-governor’s travel document “to enable him to travel for medical attention.” According to Daudu, the motion dated June 19 and supported by a 22-paragraph affidavit deposed to by Bello himself requested the registrar to hand over the passport.
However, a review of the court’s records revealed a different picture. Although earlier bail conditions had required Bello to deposit his travel documents with the court’s registry, Justice Anenih said a thorough search confirmed that the passport was not currently in the FCT High Court’s possession.
“The international passport cannot be in two places at the same time; this court is not in a position to speculate if he has two passports,” she stated, adding that no evidence was brought before the court to suggest otherwise.
The judge clarified that the application submitted by Bello was fundamentally flawed in its assumption that the passport was under the custody of the FCT High Court.
She explained: “The court would have considered the application for the release of the defendant’s travel document if it were to be in its custody,” but emphasized that “even if the request to retrieve the travel passport were to be granted, it would be of no effect since the passport was not in the custody of the court.”
Justice Anenih further highlighted that the bail conditions required Bello to either submit the passport or file an affidavit indicating it was before another court. Bello had indeed sworn that the document was with the deputy registrar of the Federal High Court, stating it “would be presented as soon as it is released to me by the Federal High Court.”
Given these facts, Justice Anenih ruled the application incompetent and “misleading,” stating that “the court could have considered the submissions of the counsels if the international passport had been before the FCT High Court.”
Following the ruling, the court adjourned the matter until October 8, 2025, for continuation of trial.
Bello, alongside Umar Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu, is currently facing a 16-count charge bordering on alleged money laundering and property fraud totaling N110 billion. He is also simultaneously facing a separate set of charges at the Federal High Court in Abuja.