A Federal High Court in Abuja has thrown out the plea by former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, to revoke the warrant of arrest issued against him by the court.
The judge leading the trial, Justice Emeka Nwite said on Friday that the former governor, having committed contempt against the court by his refusal to make himself available for arraignment in a criminal charge, was not entitled to be granted any discretion or favour.
Delivering ruling on Bello’s application for the discharge of the warrant of arrest, the court said that Bello was taking the court for a ride by his continued refusal to make himself available for arraignment in the court.
While throwing out the request for lack of merit, the court said that Bello cannot be in the comfort of his room and be telling the court of law where he is to be arraigned.
The Judge also dismissed the former Governor’s claim that the Federal High Court has no jurisdiction to hear the criminal charges against him.
Justice Nwite held that Bello must make himself available for arraignment first and his plea taken before he can proceed to make any application or request.
Recall that the embattled former governor was on April 23 saying that the arrest warrant against him had become unnecessary since his lead counsel, Abdulwahab Mohammed, accepted the service of the criminal charges on his behalf in respect of the alleged N80 billion money laundering charge brought against him by the Federal Government.
