Yahaya Bello | File Image
‘I will resign as EFCC chairman if Bello is not prosecuted’
By Valentine Amanze
The immediate past governor of Kogi State is passing through a difficult time. He is not happy that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is going after him to account for the state’s $720,000.
While Bello is yet to be apprehended by the law-enforcent agencies, the EFCC Chairman, Chief Ola Olukoyede, revealed on Tuesday that the former governor withdrew $720,000 from the state’s accounts to pay his child’s school fees in advance just before he left office on January 27, 2024.
Olukoyede, who addressed the media on the issue at the commission’s headquarters in the Jabi area of Abuja, vowed that the former Kogi State governor would be prosecuted and all those who obstructed his arrest last week would also be brought to book.
Olukoyede further explained that Bello moved the money from the state coffers to a Bureau de Change operator.
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His words: “A sitting governor, because he knew he was leaving office, moved money directly from the government to Bureau de Change (and) used it to pay his child’s school fee in advance.
“Over $720,000 or thereabout, in anticipation that he was going to leave the Government House. In a poor state like Kogi? And you want me to close my eyes under the guise of ‘I’m being used’. Used by who? At this stage of my life? Used by who?
“I didn’t initiate the case; I inherited the case. I called for the case file and I said there are issues here.”
The EFCC chairman also assured that he would follow the prosecution of the ex-governor to a logical conclusion, threatening, “I will resign as EFCC chairman if Bello is not prosecuted.”
The EFCC is seeking to arraign Bello on 19 counts bordering on alleged money laundering, breach of trust, and misappropriation of funds to the tune of N80.2 billion.
valoa2000@yahoo.com
