The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has charged former governor of Kogi State Yahaya Bello with corruption.
This comes days after he handed over to his successor Usman Ododo on January 27.
In charging the ex-governor, the EFCC amended existing charges in which his nephew Ali Bello and an associate Dauda Suleiman were accused of diverting Kogi State funds, and added Bello as a co-defendant with some few additional counts.
Bello, in the amended case, was accused of converting the total sum of N80.2 billion (N80,246,470,089.88) belonging to Kogi State Government to personal use.
An alleged co-conspirator, Abdulsalami Hud (Kogi State Government house cashier) was described as being at large. The other two are are his co-defendants Bello and Suleiman.
Kogi State commissioner for information Kingsley Fanwo, in a statement on Tuesday night, condemning EFCC’s move, said the case marked FHC/ABJ/CR/550/2022 was already before Judge James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
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Mr Fanwo, who was also a part of Bello’s administration, said the case against Bello was ridiculous.
The state government said the EFCC “accused the former Governor of diverting Kogi State Government funds in September 2015, four months before he assumed the position of a Governor.”
It said this was not only laughable but 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 government called on Tinubu to step in to save the integrity of the EFCC from those “pushing the Commission into a fight that should be left to politicians.”
