Yahaya Bello

The immediate-past governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello has been charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) with an N80 billion fraud allegation.

The anti-graft agency slammed the former Governor with the charges and dragged him to court just a few days after he handed over power on January 27, 2024.

It is understood that the allegation of corruption for which Bello was dragged to court is not a fresh one, but the EFCC simply amended existing charges in which his nephew and an associate were accused of diverting Kogi State funds, and added the former governor as a co-defendant with some few additional counts.

Bello, in the amended case, was accused of converting the total sum of N80.2 billion (N80,246,470,089.88) belonging to the Kogi State Government to personal use. An alleged co-conspirator, Abdulsalami Hud (Kogi State Government House Cashier), was described as being at large. The other two are are his co-defendants – Ali Bello and Dauda Suleiman.

However, reacting to the development, the Kogi State Commissioner for Information, Kingsley Fanwo, in a statement yesterday, condemned the EFCC’s action against the former Governor.

He added that the EFCC, in its desperation, described Bello as ‘at large’, which is totally wrong as it gave the impression the former Governor was evading arrest or could not be found.

Fanwo said the allegation of the EFCC against Bello “is ridiculous, laughable and portrays the EFCC as an agency infested with persons whose intents disagree with the noble intention of Mr. President to defeat corruption in Nigeria.”

“Being ‘at large’ of course means that a person is evading arrest or is on the run and cannot be found after an attempt to arrest,” the statement stated.

“In the EFCC’s desperation to nail H.E Yahaya Bello, they forgot their thinking hammer at home.”