By Abiola Olawale
Embattled former Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has denied claims that he ignored the invitations of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), saying he was never invited by the anti-graft agency.
Mr Bello, in a statement by media aide, Ohiare Michael, also said he is not running away from the EFCC, but that he is only concerned about how the commission is trying to arrest, and declare him wanted without sending an invitation to him.
In a statement on Monday, April 22, the EFCC said Bello was invited when his tenure ended but refused to honour the invitation.
On April 23, Ola Olukoyede, EFCC’s chair, while addressing the journalists at the anti-graft agency’s headquarters in Abuja, said he invited Bello to his office for a dignified interrogation.
Mr Olukoyede said Bello turned down the invitation and requested operatives to come to his village instead.
However, the former governor, in the statement, dared the anti-graft agency to provide evidence of the invitation letters addressed to him.
The statement reads: “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.
“They should also tell Nigerians the date the alleged invitation was delivered and who it was delivered to. We are certain that the EFCC will not be able to produce any of the foregoing; as to date, they have yet to invite Alhaji Yahaya Bello.
“Indeed, just about the end of his administration, several online news sites published that the EFCC would arrest the Governor as soon as he handed over power to his successor, as they intended to charge him for alleged crimes committed as Governor of Kogi State.
“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 news of the inclusion of his name in the Charge, as usual, was given wide publicity by the EFCC who still had not invited him but had described him as being at large.
“It was thus clear from the foregoing that the EFCC was out for mischief. A stage was being set to move in a Gestapo manner to his home, lay siege there, and violently arrest him to tarnish his name and ruin his reputation as if he were a fugitive even though he was not invited.”
In the statement, Bello also accused the EFCC of violating the court order barring the agency from harassing the former governor.
“For the protection of his reputation, rights to presumption of innocence, liberty, and dignity of the human person, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, as a law-abiding citizen, caused a Fundamental Rights Enforcement action in Suit No. HCL/68M/2024, between Alhaji Yahaya Bello v. Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on the 8th day of February 2024, at the High Court of Justice, Kogi State,” the media office said.
“The belief of the imminent dramatic arrest, which eventually occurred on the 17th of April 2024 in Abuja, was indeed predicted in paragraph 36(c) of the Affidavit in Support of the Originating Summons filed on the 8th of February 2024.
“Upon the above facts, particularly that he was to be investigated, invited, arrested, or prosecuted on an impossible allegation, the High Court granted him reprieve by restraining the EFCC from inviting, arresting, and prosecuting him, pending the determination of the Originating Motion for the enforcement of his fundamental rights. The said Order was served on the EFCC on the 12th day of February 2024.”
The EFCC is accusing the former governor of involvement in the laundering of N80.2 billion belonging to the Kogi government.
On April 17, the operatives of the EFCC laid a siege to the residence of Bello in Abuja. However, he failed to surrender himself to the EFCC and was allegedly helped by his successor, Governor Usman Ododo to escape from the net of the anti-graft agency. But the Kogi State government has denied the allegation.
Following the development, the EFCC approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, and obtained an arrest warrant against the former governor.
The EFCC also declared Bello wanted, while the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) withdrew all its operatives from him, even as the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) placed Bello on a watchlist.
However, Bello said the EFCC has no right to arrest him, relying on a court order granted by the Kogi High Court, which restrained the EFCC from arresting, prosecuting, or detaining him.
