The chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, says the case involving a former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, remains in court, insisting he has fulfilled his responsibility by ensuring the ex-governor is being prosecuted.
Olukoyede stated this in an interview with Channels Television aired on Sunday, January 11, revisiting his earlier pledge to resign if Bello was not prosecuted.
“If I do not personally oversee the completion of the investigation regarding Yahaya Bello, I will tender my resignation as the chairman of the EFCC,” he said in April 2024.
Responding to public concerns that the matter has not been concluded, Olukoyede said the court process is ongoing.
“Have I not made good that promise of commitment? Is Yahaya Bello not being prosecuted? The case is still in court,” he said.
“I have three cases against Yahaya Bello. Am I the judge who would determine the conviction? I have done my work. I have fulfilled my mandate.
“Nigerians must know that, and they must also encourage us in doing more. This man has been investigated, and we have filed charges against him, and the matter is gaining traction.”
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Bello is facing a 16-count charge involving alleged property fraud amounting to ₦110bn alongside Umar Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu.
He is also standing trial at the Federal High Court on another 19-count charge of alleged ₦80.2 billion fraud and money laundering.
The EFCC declared Bello wanted in April 2024 over an alleged ₦80 billion financial crime.
Olukoyede also cited an allegation involving an overseas school fee payment, saying the former governor moved public funds through a bureau de change shortly before leaving office.
“A sitting governor, because he knows he is going, moved money directly from government to bureau de change, used it to pay the child’s school fee in advance, $720,000 in advance, in anticipation that he was going to leave the Government House.
“In a poor state like Kogi, and you want me to close my eyes to that under the guise of ‘I’m being used. Being used by who at this stage of my life?”