A human rights activist and public affairs analyst, Austin Okai, has alleged that the recent fraud case against former Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, started in 2022 when the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) discovered N20 billion of the state’s bailout funds were stashed in Sterling Bank.
He stated that despite the state government’s denial of involvement, the EFCC, under Abdulrasheed Bawa’s leadership, took action to refund the money to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
He explained that a legal process unfolded subsequently from February 2022 to February 2nd, 2023, during which the EFCC, under Bawa’s tenure, obtained a court order to seize numerous assets belonging to Yahaya Bello.
According to him, these assets, located in various places including Dubai and Maitama, were instructed to be forfeited to the federal government of Nigeria.
He stated that the new EFCC Chairman, having inherited the case, reviewed its details and alerted the former governor to the issues involved.
Speaking during an interview with Arise TV, Okai said ”I think some people don’t know Yahaya Bello, he is one of the sophisticated governors that you can’t just approach. We are all aware of this case. This case started in 2022 when N20Bn of Kogi State bailout fund was found in Sterling bank. The state government denied that money, and the EFCC under Bawa refunded that money back to the CBN.
“After that, there was a case that started from February 2022 to the 2nd of February 2023. The same EFCC under Bawa got a court order where so many of his assets including in Dubai, Maitama and so many places were asked to forfeit it to the federal government.t of Nigeria by the EFCC order. As the EFCC Chairman has said, he inherited the case and he called the d on the file. And he told the governor that there was a problem. The court order that the former governor obtained is about his fundamental human right and I’m not aware of any court order that can stop EFCC from investigating a criminal offense.”
