The 16-count criminal charges brought against the former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, and two others have been read to the defendants before Justice Maryann Anenih, DAILY POST reports.

They, however, denied all the allegations in the charges, including the fraudulent conversion of N110 billion naira for personal use.

Bello, who is the first defendant in the charges, vehemently denied the allegations as they were read out by the Court Registrar.

At the time of this report, the battle for bail was about to commence.

DAILY POST recalls that Umar Shoaib Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu had earlier been admitted to administrative bail by the EFCC, while the former governor appeared before the court for the first time.

Details later…