The Kogi State government has called out the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over what it described as a “witch hunt” of the immediate past governor, Yahaya Bello.
A statement by the Commissioner for Information in Kogi State, Kingsley Fanwo, on Friday, claimed that the witch-hunt was orchestrated by some political actors around the Presidency bent on destroying the image of the former governor.
Recall that the anti-graft agency on Thursday, March 14, 2024 dragged former Kogi State governor, Yahaya Adoza Bello, before Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Maitama, Abuja for alleged N84billion money laundering offences, alongside his nephew Ali Bello, Dauda Sulaiman and Abdulsalam Hudu.
To make way for Yahaya Bello’s inclusion in the trial, prosecution counsel Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, informed the court of an application before it for the amendment of the charges against the defendants, dated February 5, 2024, and filed the same day. He then prayed that the amended charges be read to the defendants for them to take their pleas. The judge granted the prayer, overruling objections from A.M Aliyu SAN, and Olusegun Joolawo SAN, counsels to Ali Bello and Suleiman, first and second defendants.
Fanwo, in his statement, said the world would be eager to know why the Commission was trying so hard to find what was not missing, insisting that its funds were not missing, and called on the EFCC to desist from mentioning the name of Kogi State in its ongoing persecution.
“We believe that this ignoble agenda is unknown to President Bola Tinubu, who trusted those people with power with the hope that they will use it judiciously for the greatness of our nation.
“Unfortunately, they have decided to use the privileges given to them as tools for political vendetta.
“The amended charges in which the name of the former governor, Bello, was mentioned are false, frivolous, fictitious, and far from the truth. They are cooked-up charges that signpost their desperation to call a dog a bad name to hang it.
“The intention was to sensationalise the whole scenario and promote a media war against the former governor and other officials of government”.
Fanwo called on President Bola Tinubu to order a special probe into “what is happening in Kogi State before the EFCC is pushed into being used as a hired gun by political hawks who are acting a selfish and overambitious script”, and added that those who had personal grievances could vent their grievances without dragging the name of Kogi State in the mud.
