The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has accused former Kogi State governor Yahaya Bello of mocking the Nigerian justice system by failing to appear in court to face charges of N80.2bn fraud. The EFCC’s acting Zonal Director for the Benin Zonal Command, Effa Okim, made this statement during a visit to the Delta State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists in Asaba, the Delta State capital.
Bello, who is entangled in a protracted legal battle with the EFCC, has repeatedly failed to attend court for his arraignment. Following an unsuccessful attempt to arrest him, the EFCC declared him wanted, and the Nigerian Immigration Service placed him on a watchlist.
Responding to queries about why the EFCC has not arrested Bello weeks after declaring him wanted, a visibly frustrated Okim suggested that the ex-governor was being protected by influential figures within the system.
“This is the last question I expected because the shame is on all of us. Is that a question I should answer alone? It’s not me, it is the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” Okim remarked.
“That politically-exposed Yahaya Bello, whose crime has been traced to him by allegation and has been invited by the EFCC to come and explain, and for months he is acting drama and we are all here wanting to ask questions! The shame is our own shame! Can’t we catch him? We can, but do we go all out to catch him? Do we need to do that when he has his masters? Can’t they call him and tell him, ‘You are disgracing Nigeria’? What are you telling the world? Tell him to go and explain himself like others have done. Where are the ministers? Where are Yahaya Bello’s colleagues, even in his hiding? So, Nigerians can’t tell him ‘This is not fair, go and report; they are not going to kill you’? But people are still eating and dining with him.”
Okim also stressed the moral implications of the situation, noting, “Where has morality gone before legality that we can’t summon that man and tell him to go and report himself to the EFCC? Some persons are writing, supporting him, while some are criticising the commission. The problem is our own problem that borders on Nigeria’s image. Our children are watching their parents behave like children. To me, the truth has vanished. Even in Animal Farm, this will not happen, that a man who was part of the system that was a custodian of our culture, rules and laws can behave like this and you are asking questions. The media should come out for the first time to harmonise, criticise that action and forget about prosecution but tell him to make himself available; thereafter we know what to do.”
Okim further lamented that the criminal justice system had been ridiculed by Bello’s actions. He asserted, “And because we respect the law, we want to go by the process, we are inhibited that does not make us weak.”
In response, Churchill Oyowe, Chairman of the NUJ Delta State Council, assured the commission of journalists’ support in the state.
