Justice Maryam Anenih of the Federal Capital Territory High Court has refused to grant a bail application filed by the former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, saying it was filed prematurely.

Delivering the ruling on Tuesday morning, Justice Anenih, said having been filed when he was neither in custody nor before the court, the instant application is incompetent.

The former governor is standing trial, along with two others, in an alleged N110bn money laundering charge brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

In the arguments before the court on the bail application, the judge had said, “Before the court is a motion on notice, dated and filed on 22nd November. The 1st defendant seeks an order of this honourable court admitting him to bail pending the hearing and determination of the charge.

“That he became aware of the instant charge through the public summons. That he is a two-term governor of Kogi State. That if released on bail, he would not interfere with the witnesses and not jump bail.”

She said the defendant’s counsel JB Daudu (SAN) earlier told the court that he had submitted sufficient facts to grant the bail.

He urged the court to exercise its discretion judicially and judiciously to grant the bail.

In opposing, the prosecution counsel Kemi Pinheiro had argued that the instant application was grossly incompetent, having been filed before arraignment.

He said it ought to be filed after arraignment but the 1st defendant’s counsel disagreed, saying there was no authority.

While delivering her ruling, Justice Maryam Anenih said: “The instant application for bail showed that it was filed on the 22nd of November. This shows that it was filed several days after the 1st defendant was taken into custody.”

Reading from the ACJa section, the judge said the provision provided that a bail application could be made when a defendant had been arrested, detained, arraigned, or brought before the court.

Bello had filed an application for his bail on November 22, but was taken into custody on November 26, and arraigned on November 27.

The second defendant, Umar Oricha, was granted bail in the sum of N300million with two sureties in the same amount.

The sureties must be a holder of a property in Maitama valued at not less than the bond sum, they must also deposit their original title document before the court.

The sureties must depose to an affidavit of means and copies of passport of sureties be deposited.

The court also ruled that Oricha shall deposit travel documents and be remanded in prison custody pending fulfillment of the bail conditions.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Systems, Abisola Ruth Olusanya, has lauded MoneyMaster PSB for its support for the state’s ‘Ounje Eko’ initiative.

She gave the commendation recently during an official visit by the executive management team of the bank to  her  Ikeja, Lagos, office.

The commissioner thanked the team for the visit and expressed appreciation for  the support for and participation of the bank in  the Phases 1  and 2 of the Ounje Eko project.

She challenged the bank to work more closely with the Ministry, saying such collaboration will  bring additional dividends through ongoing and future initiatives to Lagos residents.

Head, Agency Banking, MoneyMaster Payment Service Bank, Mr Julius Arhebun, in his response thanked the Lagos State Government for appointing the PSB as one of the official collection banks for the food initiative.

‘Ounje Eko’ initiative is a weekly food discount market where Lagos residents can buy  a variety of food items at a discount of 25 per cent.

Arhebun, who was accompanied on the visit by Dimeji Amao; Head,  Merchant and  Enterprise Business, Bulus Ayuba; Head, Operations and Olumide Orojimi, Head, Marketing Communications  pledged additional support and readiness of the bank for  future initiatives of the Ministry.

MoneyMaster PSB is a leading provider of innovative digital financial products and services that transform lives and contribute to sustainable living. With a mission to deepen financial inclusion, MoneyMaster has been instrumental in providing financial technology services to bridge the gaps between the banked, underbanked and unbanked population.

The bank recently launched a 10% data bonus and 100MB seeding bonus to its existing and new customers to deepen financial inclusion. The offers are available to Nigerians via the USSD code and mobile banking app.