EFCC Versus Yahaya Bello

“You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time”

This quote by the late Abraham Lincoln, the 16thPresident of the United States of America which was further re-echoed in the 1970s by the legendary musician, late Bob Marley, as part of his song titled “Get up, stand up” is apt regarding the dramatization of the ongoing prosecution of the former Governor of Kogi State, Mr. Yahaya Bello the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the. Suffice it to say that it is very obvious as to who is trying to fool who in his saga.

 Yet again, two days ago, former Governor Yahaya Bello was absent before Hon. Justice Nwite of the Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja. This is despite the subsisting Court of Appeal Order which affirmed the Federal High Court Order compelling Yahaya Bello to appear before Justice Nwite having ruled against his appeal to set aside Justice Nwite’s Order. Instead, Yahaya Bello has basically decided to hit the bulwark of the judiciary heading to the Supreme Court of the Federation in order to avoid complying with the Order of the Court of Appeal. I wonder what Mr. Yahaya Bello will do when the Supreme Court bounces him back to submit himself to the Federal High Court. Will he at that point appear before Justice Nwite? Or will he still be looking for other avenues to dodge the Courts? “Time is a gentleman”.

Mr. Yahaya Bello who has been declared a fugitive (local and international), has so far refused to take a plea. Interestingly, it appears like it is not a drizzle for Yahaya Bello, but for him, it is a heavy downpour. This is because, 48 hours ago the EFCC has come up with another sucker punch by filing fresh 16 charges against him and two others on a N100.4 Billion case bordering on breach of trust, in another Court. This is adding another dimension to his travails. This will tally to almost N200 Billion as the total money belonging to Kogi State that is alleged to have been stolen by Yahaya Bello and his accomplices.

 By the way, I am one of the Nigerians who were taken aback by the inability of the EFCC to take Mr. Yahaya Bello into custody when he arrived at the EFCC Headquarters last week and presented himself – escorted by his Excellency, Ahmed Usman Ododo, the Governor of Kogi State. Despite the explanations given by the EFCC, a lot of concerned Nigerians believed that it was an opportunity for the EFCC to take Yahaya Bello into custody having declared him a local and international fugitive. Nonetheless, Mr. Yahaya Bello has the duty to comply with the Appeal Court Order for him to appear in Court to answer the charges proffered against him. The fact the EFCC failed to arrest him at the Headquarters is not an excuse for him not to comply with Court Orders.

 Former Governor, Yahaya Bello has so far made several unsuccessful attempts to frustrate the corruption case against him. Meanwhile, his supporters from Kogi State, some Civil Society Organizations, his supporters across Nigeria, and some days ago, the Kogi State Assembly are claiming that Yahaya Bello’s travail is a witch-hunt against him by the Executive Chairman of the EFCC, Barrister Ola Olukoyede.

 However, in my opinion, the claim by the Kogi State Assembly that the EFCC Chairman is witch-hunting former Governor Yahaya Bello is clearly another failed publicity stunt to botch the investigation and prosecution of Mr. Yahaya Bello. Rather than focus on the mandate of delivering the desperately needed good governance to the good people of Kogi State, the State Assembly members are preoccupied with an obviously futile exercise of fighting EFCC. 

Therefore, let us dimension the claims by the Kogi State Assembly and some supporters of Yahaya Bello to determine the veracity of such claims:

Yahaya Bello is not the only politically exposed person thatis facing investigation and prosecution

Over the past last one year since the beginning of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, there have been several ongoing high-profile grafts and other corruption cases at various stages of investigation and prosecution – with a scope and scale of cash and assets amounting to whopping Billions of US Dollars (Trillions of Naira); These are indicators of the critical momentum that the EFCC has built in such a short time under the leadership of Mr. Olukoyede, especially with the seriousness and fearlessness that the EFCC is currently executing her mandates.

Such high-profile cases include: the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele and his co-suspects, the former Governor of Kogi State, Mr. Yahaya Bello and his co-suspects, former Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Senator Hadi Sirika and his co-suspects,  suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu, her predecessor and other co-suspects, suspended Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Board (REA) Mr. Ahmad Salihijo, the suspended Executive Directors of the REA, and their co-suspects, etc. So, I wonder how come former Governor Yahaya Bello and his supporters are claiming a witch hunt? What is the basis for their allegation?

The level of pushback that is deployed anytime there are attempts to stand up against vested interests or fights against corruption in Nigeria, tells any right-thinking person that indeed we are in trouble in this country.

 Furthermore, from all indications, Mr. President has not been interfering with the works of the EFCC. What is key to note here is that even though, the EFCC Executive Chairman has the support of President Tinubu, Mr. The President would have called him to order or stopped him, if Mr. Olukoyede was operating unprofessionally. 

Additionally, the claim by Yahaya Bello media office that the EFCC has a vendetta against him is far-fetched. For example, if it is a vendetta, I expect Mr. Yahaya Bello to puncture all the allegations by countering with solid counter-evidences and accountability. That way Yahaya Bello can clear his name and prepare himself for a political future devoid of blemishes. That is the strategy that will work for him. Media war and propaganda will only make things worse for him. 

Another key point to note is that, if the allegation by Yahaya Bello and his supporters, that the EFCC is hounding the former governor is true; does that mean that the Federal High Courts and the Court of Appeal are also aiding and abetting the EFCC’s vendetta against Yahaya Bello? This question is germane based on the fact that the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal have taken similar decisions, which speak volumes about the veracity of the need for Yahaya Bello to have his day in Court. This is so much so that on 17th July 2024, Hon. Justice Nwite had to issue an order of Court referring Mr. Bello’s two most senior defense lawyers to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) for probe over alleged professional misconduct – Is this also an EFCC vendetta?

We can run, but you cannot hide from the long arms of the law

Yahaya Bello is needlessly complicating his case whether he is guilty or not. In addition, I must say that Yahaya Bello’s supporters are not helping him with wise counsel on this matter. The ongoing civil and criminal corruption cases against the former Governor of Kogi State, Mr. Yahaya Bello which interestingly started about 2 years ago before the tenure of Barrister Ola Olukoyode as the Executive Chairman has become a macabre dance on the part of the former governor. In fact, in my view, Yahaya Bello has boxed himself into a legal cul-de-sac.

 This is a classic example of “you can run but you cannot hide from the long arms of law”. Nigeria and the international community are awash with the macabre dance by the former governor of Kogi State, Mr. Yahaya Bello who is trying to run and evade a reality that I thought the former Governor should know better.

 Let me be clear, I am not saying that Mr. Yahaya Bello has been found guilty – No! Mr. Yahaya Bello remains innocent until proven guilty by a Court of competent jurisdiction. My grouse is that the activities of Yahaya Bello and his co-travelers are leaving a very bad impression of him in the eyes of the public and the eyes of authorities (local and international).

 I urge Yahaya Bello, his team of lawyers, and supporters to do justice to the allegations made against him by puncturing the pieces of evidence line by line, item by item – and if he cannot, he should do what men of honor do – step up and take responsibility, it will not be the end of life. It will be an opportunity to close a chapter and open a new one that will be full of opportunities for greatness.

 Dear former Governor Yahaya Bello, until you step up to the plate and take responsibility, you are losing face and supporters. Please be wary of sycophants, who will only make your matters worse while they mock you behind you. At the end of the day, you will stand alone with a few of your true friends and loved ones who tell you the truth and mean well to you.