The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has labelled former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello’s recent visit to its office as a publicity stunt, suggesting he was not genuinely prepared to surrender.
EFCC’s Director of Public Affairs, DCE Wilson Uwujaren, asserted this today during an interview on Arise TV’s The Morning Show.
Bello had another opportunity to appear before Justice Emeka Nwite at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday, when the court adjourned his ongoing money laundering case to October 30, 2024, for a ruling, according to Uwujaren.
He said: “That is enough to convince Nigerians that his presence at the EFCC on the 18th of September was more of a stunt, not really that he wanted to abide by the rule of law.
“When EFCC officials went to the Kogi Governor’s lodge to ask him to come back, he would have followed them if he had no issue presenting himself to the commission.
“If he had done that, he would have complied with the decision of the Court of Appeal which mandated him to formally present himself.
“That, as I am concerned, exposed his insincerity in appearing at the car park of the EFCC on the 18th of September.”
EFCC revealed that news of Bello’s visit to their office spread like wildfire even before the former governor actually arrived, casting doubt on the sincerity of his intentions.
Uwujaren said: “Even before he arrived at the car park of the EFCC, he had already sent out media information across all the platforms that he had presented himself to the EFCC, and they were even saying he had been detained, and that was not true.
“That alone showed us that he had a game plan. And that gameplan can only be explained by him alone.”
Persecondnews recalls that Bello’s media office asserted on September 18 that he willingly showed up at the EFCC office, several months after his declaration of want.
Photos of Bello and Kogi State Governor Usman Ododo at the EFCC car park soon went viral on social media, sparking widespread discussion and criticism of the commission’s handling of the situation.
EFCC swiftly debunked reports of Yahaya Bello’s surrender, stating through its spokesperson, Mr. Dele Oyewale, that the former governor remains wanted with a valid arrest warrant.
In a dramatic turn of events, EFCC operatives later stormed the Kogi State Government Lodge in Abuja that night in an attempt to apprehend Bello.
Uwujaren said: “If he wanted to comply with the law, what he should have done immediately after he arrived at the premises is to go to the security post and tell the security on guard that he has come to present himself.
“They would have known what they should have done.”
The EFCC preferred 19 charges against the former Kogi governor alongside Ali Bello, Dauda Suliman, and Abdulsalam Hudu for money laundering offences amounting to N80.2 billion.
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