Yahaya Bello: CD Knocks EFCC, Seeks Commission Boss’ Resignation

*Alleges ulterior motive

The Campaign for Democracy (CD) has berated the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the handling of the former Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello’s issue, and called for the resignation of the commission’s chairman, Ola Olukoyede.
In a statement signed on Thursday by its President, Comrade Ifeanyi Odili, CD said: “It is unimaginable that the former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, who, the same EFCC had declared wanted, who was placed on watchlist, who the Commission enlisted security agencies in Nigeria and Interpol to help fish out, walked into the EFCC premises on Wednesday, waited for about three hours and no arrest or interrogation happened.”

Former Gov Bello arriving EFCC headquarters in Abuja, accompanied by Kogi State Gov Usman Ododo Wednesday morning

It said, “Instead, they told him to go, that they would get back to him only to issue a laughable statement that he was still a wanted man. How can someone who brought himself to you still be at large?”
The statement said the agency’s excuse that “they couldn’t arrest him because a sitting governor accompanied him to their office was the main reason Olukoyede should be asked to go.”
CD also recalled that many people had castigated this man for long even though many others believed the case was mainly that of persecution.

Gov Ododo and former Gov Bello with an EFCC official at the agency’s premises on Wednesday

It said, “In all of this, CD did not dabble into the matter. Now that the matter has taken a dramatic turn, one that touches on democratic principles and affects the country’s image, it is pertinent for well-meaning Nigerians to lend their voice.
“Associates of the former governor had been raising the alarm that his life is at risk. With the events of yesterday (Wednesday 18th September, 2024), any right thinking person would conclude that his life must be truly at risk.
“You said you couldn’t arrest him or interrogate him in your office because his governor was there, yet you went, at night, to the official residence of the same governor in Abuja to start firing gunshots as if Nigeria is a lawless society. This is unacceptable. In saner climes, the EFCC boss would have been fired the next morning.
CD said ex-Gov Bello had fulfilled all righteousness, adding, “with the turn of events that culminated in a show of shame last night, it appears the EFCC has an ulterior motive definitely different from the fight against corruption.”