N80 Billion Diversion: Kogi Accuses EFCC Of Making Ridiculous Allegations Against Yahaya Bello
Yahaya BelloThe Kogi State Government has raised alarm over what it described as a desperate attempt by “criminals masquerading as politicians” to tarnish the image of the immediate past Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, using the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The state government accused EFCC of making itself available to be used to make ridiculous, shameless and indefensible allegation against Yahaya Bello over the case of diversion of N80 billion that took place before he took over as Governor in 2016.
The state government said that in its desperation, “which would leave Nigerians wondering who exactly is afraid of Yahaya Bello,” the EFCC in an amended charge, accused Yahaya Bello of diverting Kogi State Government’s funds in September 2015, four months before he assumed the position of a Governor.
A statement by the Commissioner for Information in Kogi State, Kingsley Fanwo, described the charges as laughable, and portrayed the EFCC as an agency infested with persons whose intents disagree with the noble intention of President Bola Tinubu to defeat corruption in Nigeria.
The statement said: “The fact that the EFCC, in charge No. FHC/ABJ/CR/550/2022: FRN V. 1. Ali Bello 2. Dauda Suleiman, currently pending before Honorable Justice J.K. Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja Division further amended the ‘Amended Charge’ to include in the count, the name of H.E Yahaya Bello, describing him as being ‘at large’, 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.
“For the sake of clarity, the original charge is against Ali Bello and Dauda Suleiman, Ali’s associate. The offence which H.E Yahaya Bello is alleged to have committed upon which he has been named in the count is conspiracy to convert the total sum of N80,246,470,089.88 (Eighty Billion, Two Hundred and Forty Six Million, Four Hundred and Seventy Thousand, Eighty Nine Naira, Eighty Eight Kobo) which offence is said to have occurred on or about September 2015 in Abuja. His co-conspirators according to the Count are Abdulsalami Hudu (Kogi State Government House Cashier) described as being ‘at large’ too, Ali Bello and Dauda Suleiman.
“In the EFCC’s desperation to nail H.E Yahaya Bello, they forgot their thinking hammer at home.
“The Count of the offence is most laughable as the election that produced H.E Yahaya Bello, CON, as Governor of Kogi was only conducted in November 2015. Indeed, H.E. Captain Idris Wada of the PDP held sway as Governor of Kogi State at the material time until he handed over to H.E Yahaya Bello on the 27th day of January 2016.
“H.E Yahaya Bello could therefore not have as of September 2015 conspired with anyone, including Abdulsalami Hudu, a Kogi Government House Cashier to convert any money belonging to the Kogi State Government. It is to be noted that H.E Yahaya Bello before becoming the Governor of Kogi State had no financial dealings with the Kogi State Government which could have permitted him to convert monies belonging to the Kogi State Government, hence, one’s dismay at the allegation.”
The state government warned political actors to steer clear of Kogi State affairs and desist from their campaign of calumny “as the state government has not said its money is missing, and has been adjudged, both locally and internationally, as top in the area of transparency and accountability.”
The statement by Fanwo asked: “Why should Nigerians trust the leadership of the agency that made such a ridiculous, shameless and indefensible allegation?
“The Chairman of the Commission should tender unreserved apologies to the Nigerian people for making us a laughing stock in the comity of nations.”
The statement called on the President to step in to save the integrity of the EFCC from those “pushing the Commission into a fight that should be left to politicians.
“The Kogi State Government under the leadership of His Excellency Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo will continue to support the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr President. We will also continue to promote probity, accountability and transparency and open our books to agencies and institutions constitutionally empowered to look into them. We will continue to win awards in transparency and accountability.
“The journey to tarnish the image of Bello did not begin today.
“In 2021, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in a desperate bid to embarrass the Government of Kogi State then under the leadership of His Excellency Alhaji Yahaya Bello, came out with a false claim that it had uncovered over N20 billion Naira of the state’s bail out fund in a Fixed Deposit Account in Sterling Bank. Emboldened by its innocence, the Kogi State Government wrote a letter to Sterling Bank for clarifications.
“The Bank came out clean that the State Government had no such account with it, rubbishing the blatant falsehood of the EFCC in a manner that was so embarrassing to the people and Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“But rather than apologize to the Government of Kogi State and the general public, the EFCC chose to harass the officials of Sterling Bank, coercing them to do everything possible to achieve the aim of roping tue Kogi State Government into their ignominy ring. It ended with a conspiratorial exchange between the EFCC and the CBN. Today, Nigerians are not confused about the personae of Bawa and Emefiele.
“The sack of Bawa and the startling revelations that followed threw Nigerians into jubilation. Their hope was that EFCC will birth a new era of separating political vendetta from the actual fight against corruption. But recent happenings have shown that it isn’t war against corruption anymore but a clear manifestation of hired gun approach to hack down political opponents by certain elements within and outside the anti graft agency.
“This betrays the determination of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR to retool the agency and make it more vibrant in preventing and fighting corruption in a genuine and objective manner within the ambit of the rule of law.”
According to Fanwo, the current leadership of the EFCC has now continued to tow the path of the leadership of Abdulrasheed Bawa, “who woke up one day in August 2021, decided in his mind that the Kogi State Government had Twenty Billion Naira in an account, secured ex-parte, an Order of the Federal High Court, Lagos empowering him to direct the Manager of Sterling Bank Plc to freeze Account No. 0073572696 with the name Kogi State Salary Bail Out Account pending the conclusion of investigation or possible prosecution.
“They went on even when Sterling Bank through a letter addressed to the Kogi State Government dated 1st September, 2021 confirmed that ‘the Kogi State Government does not currently operate or maintain a Fixed Deposit Account with Sterling Bank’
‘There is no mandate letter from the Kogi State Government to open account number 0073572696 with Sterling’ and that ‘Sterling Bank account 0073572696’ is an internal (mirror) account operated by the Bank for purposes of managing the Kogi State salary bailout facility.
“While the EFCC’s suit was withdrawn and the Order of Court vacated upon a challenge by the Kogi State Government, the EFCC continued to issue press statements on all its social media platforms, attaching the pictures of H.E Yahaya Bello to those statements and insisting that the factual basis of their claim was genuine. To cover up the falsehood and their shame, the EFCC under Bawa compelled Sterling Bank Plc and the CBN under its embattled Governor Emefiele, to write letters confirming the return of funds belonging to the Kogi State Government to the CBN, when no such funds existed.
“The EFCC has since refused to answer to the suit filed against it since 2021 by the Kogi State Government and its officials challenging the falsehood on the issue of bailout funds. The EFCC has continued to maintain frivolous appeals even when the Court of Appeal had confirmed that the trial Court had the jurisdiction to entertain the suit.
“A similar modus operandi was employed by the EFCC with respect to the former first lady of Kogi State, Rashida Bello. She was named in the counts of offence and described as being at large in Charge No: FHC/ABJ/573/2022: FRN V. (1) ALI BELLO (2) ABBA ADAUDU (3) YAKUBU SIYAKA ADABENEGE (4) IYADI SADAT and was alleged to have conspired to criminally misappropriate over Three Billion Naira, funds allegedly belonging to some Local Government Areas of Kogi State. It is noteworthy that she was never invited by the EFCC or arrested before branding her as being ‘at large’.
“As usual, the EFCC employed rogue ‘news’ platforms who sensationalized the issue, claiming that the then First Lady has been charged to Court and was running from justice!”
The State Government said that the current leadership of the EFCC seemed to have picked up the gauntlet from where Bawa left it, adding: “They have started using their media cronies and other faceless blogs and rogue media handles to spread lies about H.E Yahaya Bello. The purpose of the current amendment of Charge No. 550/2022 is no doubt to allow their irresponsible bloggers gleefully but erroneously claim that Yahaya Bello has been charged to Court for the conversion of over 80 Billion of Kogi money, an offence which was allegedly committed when he was not yet a Governor.
“The unprecedented extent to which the EFCC is ready to go to tarnish the image of the Kogi State Government and also the image of the immediate past Governor, His Excellency Alh Yahaya Bello, has left much to be desired.
“It is in our character to fight in defence of the integrity of the Government and over 5 million Kogites whose common patrimony the Government allocates on their behalf. We are prepared to use the instrumentality of law to defend the integrity of the State Government.
“We urge the people of Kogi State to remain calm and law abiding in the face of relentless provocation by EFCC who is insisting that the money we used to build infrastructure in the state is missing. We will never lose a just battle.”
Names of the suspects, who allegedly demanded a total sum of N50 Million as ransom on the kidnapped priests were not immediately given, but they were paraded and their pictures taken.
The kidnapping operations was allegedly led by the financial secretary of the Church.
Insecurity: Senate Takes Bull By The Horns, By Ola Awoniyi
Perhaps even more than the ailing economy, a worsening security situation has given Nigeria the most concern over the past few years. It is an ugly phenomenon that has bothered every law-abiding Nigerian, the National Assembly and the government. Despite several measures and huge resources deployed against it, the tide of the menace of violent crimes has not turned in many parts of the country.
It is so worrisome that some people wonder if government is doing anything about the situation. Some even query the essence of a Parliament in the country if it has failed in helping to arrest the situation.
However, the federal lawmakers have often demonstrated that they are as much concerned as the ordinary citizens who can no longer sleep with their eyes closed. Indeed, there have been a series of interventions from the National Assembly, ranging from convening a security summit, passage of security-related bills and motions and increasing Appropriations to the security sector year in year out. Yet, the unfortunate situation continues to fester.
This concern again came to the fore on 30th December, 2023 when the Senate interrupted its Christmas/New Year recess to pass the 2024 Appropriation Bill. This followed a motion by Plateau Senator Diket Plang who drew the attention of the Upper Chamber to the horrendous killings on Christmas eve by unknown gunmen who invaded communities in Bokkos and Barkin-Ladi Local Government Areas of Plateau State.
The security issue took a better part of the plenary that day even before the main business of the day was attended to. The debate on that day ended with a resolution to summon the Security Chiefs to interact with the Upper Chamber early in the New Year.
By the time the Senators returned from their Christmas/New Year recess on 30th January, 2024, insecurity in the country had assumed an even more worrisome dimension. Again, the issue took the centre stage at the plenary on their first legislative day of 2024. As soon as the President of the Senate, Godswill Obot Akpabio read his welcome address, the Senate Minority Leader, Abba Moro, was on his feet, raising a Point of Order to draw the attention of the chamber to killings in some communities in his Benue South Senatorial District. The Senate President was hesitant in using his discretionary power to allow Senator Abba Moro proceed with his motion. “I have over five people with matters of urgent national importance. Most of them have to do with insecurity,” Akpabio told his colleagues. It was evident from his voice that he was touched emotionally by the state of security across the country. Akpabio then suggested that the Senate went into a closed door session to assess all the motions to determine which one to consider first.
After the closed door session, the Senate suspended all other items on the Order Paper, consolidated all the motions that were related to security issues into one “collective motion on the spate of insecurity in Nigeria” and allowed the Senate Leader, Michael Opeyemi Bamidele, to present it on behalf of the 109 Senators.
The Senate, as stated in the motion, noted with sadness the rising spate of killings, kidnappings, banditry and other criminal activities across the country. It further noted specifically the brutal killings in some communities in Agatu and Logo Local Government Areas in Benue State, the various kidnappings within the Federal Capital Territory where victims were killed after the kidnappers had collected ransom, several cases of kidnappings all over the country where huge ransom have been paid and several of the victims still got killed, the recent killings of two traditional rulers in Ekiti State and the abduction of primary school pupils in Emure Ekiti, the unfortunate bomb explosion at Bodija, Ibadan in Oyo State where not less than five lives were lost and several residential houses, schools, hotels and religious worship centres destroyed and also the killings of several residents of Mangu, Bokkos and Barkin Ladi communities in Plateau State.
It was against this backdrop that the Senate did “invoke the earlier resolution to invite the Security Chiefs for an interacting session with the Senate, with a view to resolving the insecurity that is plaguing the country.”
Before the adjournment that Tuesday (30/01/2024), the Senate President announced that the outcome of their engagement with the Security Chiefs this week would be discussed with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Because, according to him, “we have a responsibility to collaborate with the Executive, to contribute our ideas to ensure that our constituents and ourselves including our children can sleep with their two eyes closed.”
Speaking further on the same subject, Akpabio said: “security is everybody’s business and without security we cannot have progress. As this 10th Senate is working with our colleagues in the House of Representatives, we are very determined to make laws, resolutions, oversight aimed at ensuring rapid progress of the country and immediate improvement in the economy of Nigeria. This will not be possible without a secured Nigeria.”
By the time the Senate engages the Security Chiefs this week, it is expected that the new cases that happened between the last adjournment and their resumption this week will be taken on board. This includes the brutal killing of another monarch, Onikoro of Koro-Ekiti in Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State and abduction of two people, including the king’s wife.
***Awoniyi, media aide to Senate President, writes from Abuja