The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has criticized former Kogi Governor Yahaya Bello, calling him a rascally and reckless person, and demands that he appear in court. The anti-graft agency stated in a statement released on Wednesday by its spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, that “it is public knowledge that a former governor of Kogi State, Mr. Yahaya Bello, had made several unsuccessful attempts to throw spanners in his ongoing trial through some irresponsible and utterly rascally efforts.” Yahaya Bello should be more concerned with clearing his identity than acting like a victim and accusing people of persecution when none exists, the statement continued.
Despite Bello’s antics, the EFCC promised to prosecute him and rejected his assertion that the commission was pursuing his life.
The suggestion that Bello was the victim of a fictitious assassination attempt due to the EFCC’s attempts to apprehend him from his hiding place at the Kogi State Governor’s Lodge is absurd. Such a juvenile allegation would be made for the first time in the Commission’s more than 20 years of existence. This statement purports to be nothing more than fear mongering aimed at embarrassing the Commission.
The EFCC, however, seems unmoved by the former governor’s antics or any other. The Commission is unwavering in its determination to ensure that the law is upheld in the money laundering cases that have already been brought against Yahaya Bello in court.
The EFCC claims that Yahaya Bello has not yet entered a plea in relation to the N80.2 billion money laundering accusations that Judge Nwite has brought against him. “A tactical rejection of his lauded surrender offer was necessitated by his invasion of the Commission’s corporate headquarters with a retinue of security details, hand-to-hand cahoots, and carriage with a sitting governor having immunity, unwarranted media blitz, scripted sleight of hand unknown to the public, and other backend intelligence available to the Commission.”
The statement continued, “Many Nigerians who had been anxiously awaiting his arrest and trial were naturally alarmed and curious by the incident of Wednesday, September 18, 2024, regarding the orchestrated antics of the former governor to surrender himself to the EFCC, having denied being invited by the Commission and operating underground as a fugitive for several months.”
Yahaya Bello’s security details prevented EFCC agents from making an arrest, so in April the agency issued a warrant for his arrest on the grounds that he had stolen N80 billion from the Kogi state Treasury.
In May, Federal High Court of Abuja Judge Emeka Nwite issued an order for Yahaya Bello to appear in court on a 19-count complaint pertaining to his suspected involvement in money laundering, breach of trust, and embezzlement of public monies.
But in response, Yahaya Bello—whose whereabouts were unknown since he had skipped multiple scheduled arraignments—pleaded in a letter to Justice John Tsoho, the chief judge of the Federal High Court, for his trial to be moved to Kogi State. The letter was sent through his legal team, which was led by Abdulwahab Mohammed, SAN.
Yahaya Bello asserts that the EFCC’s lawsuit against him may only be heard geographically by the high court’s Lokoja Division.
