The Kogi State Government has urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to clarify its prosecution of the immediate past governor of the state, Yahaya Bello, emphasizing that the state’s funds are not missing.
In an amended charge filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja, the anti-graft agency named Bello, alongside his nephew and current Chief of Staff, Alli Bello, and one Dauda Sulaiman, accusing them of diverting N100 billion belonging to the state in September 2015.
Responding to these charges, the state’s Commissioner for Information, Kingsley Fanwo, issued a statement on Friday denouncing them as the machinations of “political actors around the presidency” aiming to besmirch the former governor’s reputation.
Fanwo stated, “We believe that this ignoble agenda is unknown to President Bola Ahmed 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.”
He further asserted that the charges were fabricated and intended to sensationalize the situation, initiating a media campaign against the former governor and other government officials. The statement highlighted the state government’s commitment to transparency, accountability, and probity, urging President Tinubu to initiate a special probe into the EFCC’s activities in the state.
“We have seen how low EFCC and its paymasters can go in order to pander to the political agenda of those afraid of the rising profile of Alh. Yahaya Bello,” the statement concluded.
