For the past several weeks, the hallowed chambers of two separate courts in the Federal Capital Territory have served as the stage for a grim uncovering of systemic pillage. The ongoing prosecution of the former Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has moved beyond mere legal proceedings—it has become a haunting autopsy of a state’s treasury.
As the details of the multi-billion naira money laundering charges unfold, observers are left with a chilling realization: what occurred in Kogi State was not merely administrative lapse, but a textbook definition of Kleptocracy.
Kleptocracy—literally “rule by thieves”—is a governance model where state power is weaponized to siphon public wealth into private pockets. In Kogi, the EFCC’s meticulous prosecution has pulled back the curtain on a methodology of plunder that feels almost biological in its persistence, akin to a siege of the Rattus rattus (the common house rat).
Like the opportunistic rodent, this system gnawed through the very foundations of the state’s economy. The court filings depict a systemic plunder unmatched in the annals of Kogi State, characterized by:
Embezzlement at Scale: The alleged diversion of billions in state funds to pay private school fees and acquire luxury properties.
Institutional Capture: A state apparatus seemingly redesigned to bypass audits and facilitate the seamless transfer of public cash to personal proxies.
The Human Cost: Eight Years of Penury
While the figures being reeled out in court are astronomical, the true tragedy lies in the “Human Index of Kleptocracy.” For eight years, the very people whose wealth was being exported lived in a state of arrested development.
Local government workers, the backbone of Kogi’s grassroots administration, suffered through years of percentage salaries and arrears. While the Rattus rattus of the state thrived in the dark corners of the treasury, the average civil servant could barely afford a square meal. The contrast is as stark as it is depressing: luxury apartments in Abuja and Dubai versus the dilapidated schools and hospitals of Lokoja and Okene.
Kleptocracy thrives on the erosion of democratic norms. When a government becomes a vehicle for theft, accountability becomes the enemy. During the period under review, the oversight functions of the State House of Assembly and other internal checks were effectively neutralized, allowing the following to take root:
Economic Paralysis: Diversion of funds meant for infrastructure into non-productive private assets.
Social Inequity: The creation of a “new rich” class composed entirely of political cronies, while the middle class evaporated.
Judicial Defiance: The baffling legal gymnastics recently witnessed in Abuja, where the accused has sought to evade the very laws he once swore to uphold.
The Siege Must End
The ongoing trial of Yahaya Bello and his associates is more than a quest for conviction; it is a test of Nigeria’s judicial resolve. To allow kleptocracy to go unpunished is to send a message that the state treasury is a buffet for those in power.
As the EFCC continues to present its mountain of evidence, the people of Kogi State watch with bated breath. They are not just looking for the return of stolen billions; they are looking for the end of the “siege”—a future where the resources of the “Confluence State” flow into the lives of its citizens rather than the coffers of the Rattus rattus.
– Ponle Adeniyi
ponleadeniyi457@gmail.com
