Former Governor Yahaya Bello has lambasted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission as a “lawless” and “dishonourable” government institution.
The embattled ex-Kogi governor said he was not a fugitive and claimed the EFCC did not invite him for interrogation over any alleged financial infractions.
In a two-page statement, ‘Re: Yahaya Bello: EFCC Never Disobeyed Court Order’ issued on Wednesday, Mr Bello took issue with EFCC’s claim the anti-graft agency invited him for interrogation after his tenure as governor ended on January 27, 2024.
The former governor stressed that “the EFCC has further exposed itself as a dishonourable institution with this press statement which contains lies, untruths and twisted facts.”
Mr Bello slammed the anti-corruption agency for considering him “still at large.”
The statement said, “Mr Uwujaren (EFCC’s chief spokesman), whom we strongly believe is not a lawyer, attempted (albeit disingenuously) to spin the EFCC’s way out of their now established position as a lawless government agency in Nigeria. Unfortunately for Mr Uwujaren and the EFCC, records/documents do not lie, court documents have dates and times of filing, including dates and time of payment which are endorsed on the face of the court processes.
“In Paragraph 3 of the publication, the EFCC stated that they invited Alhaji Yahaya Bello immediately after his tenure ended on the 27th of January, 2024. We challenge the EFCC to publish a copy of the invitation delivered to Yahaya Bello.”
He urged EFCC to “tell Nigerians the date the alleged invitation was delivered and who it was delivered to,” insisting that “as till date, they have yet to invite Alhaji Yahaya Bello.”
Mr Bello said, based on media reports, that the EFCC threatened to arrest and prosecute him as soon as he handed over power to his successor, Usman Ododo, for alleged crimes committed as governor.
“True to the stories, the EFCC on the 5th day of February 2023, in an ongoing trial of other persons in Charge No. FHC/ABJ/CR/550/22, before Honourable Justice J.K Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja Division, amended the charge to include in Count 1 thereof, the allegation that Yahaya Bello conspired with others, including a Kogi State Government House Cashier, in September 2015, to convert the sum of 80 billion,” the statement explained.
It added, “In the said amended charge, filed by Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, an EFCC operative and Special Assistant to the President on Financial Crimes and Public Prosecution Compliance, Yahaya Bello was described as (still at large) meaning that he was already on the run when he was never invited.”