By Adamu Garba
What is the sin of Kogi people and Yahaya Bello in particular that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has shown us this level of hatred? Ola Olukoyede, the anti graft ceazar must explain to us the reasons why he has deployed so much energy and resources to chase Yahaya Bello who has just left office barely four months ago where as his Zamfara State Counterpart, Bello Matawalle with similar offence is left to enjoy the luxury of the office as Minister of State for Defence in the current government.
One would have expected the same measure with which the Commission is chasing Yahaya Bello of Kogi State over the alleged laundering of eighty billion Naira Kogi state fund in the case of the seventy billion Naira also allegedly diverted to private purse by Ex- Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle. After all, both equally share the same name, Bello. The other Bello from Zamfara left the office a year this month of May.
In fact, Nigerians are beginning to question the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s, (EFCC’s) approach to its war against fraud cases under the agency’s current leadership headed by Ola Kayode.
While some people have crowned the anti graft agency, the pursuers of little flies, (yahoo boys), others have denounced it for being selective and biased in the investigation of politically exposed persons especially the Ex-governors.
The EFCC Chairman, in one of his media briefings, vowed before journalists that he would rather resign from office than fail to prosecute Yahaya Bello. He had also hurriedly arraigned him before an Abuja High Court and subsequently declared him wanted after a failed attempt to arrest him in his Abuja house last month.
One wonders why the agency’s boss is pouring out so much venom and anger in pursuance of the immediate past Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello and keeping quiet over Matawalle’s case which it inherited since one year from the previous management headed by Abdulrasheed Bawa.
The agency had last year accused the Ex-Zamfara Governor of having allegedly diverted the sum of seventy billion Naira,(N70billion) from the state’s treasury into personal account through fantom contract awards. That case was started immediately, whereas Matawalle left office in May 2023.
The commission through its then spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, told Nigerians the same last year that the EFCC had interrogated the proprietors of one hundred companies allegedly used by Matawalle to perpetrate the alleged diversion of the huge sum.
Mr Uwujaren equally disclosed that the owners of those companies upon interrogation allegedly affirmed that the moneys paid to their companies’ accounts by the Zamfara state government were on the instruction of the former Governor allegedly converted to dollars and returned to him.
He also went further to allege that the Ex-Governor Matawalle obtained the said N70billion as loan from a commercial bank under the guise of executing a conceived project that was to be replicated in all the local government areas of the state which he never carried out.
Since the exit of Ex-Governor Matawalle from office, various pressure groups had repeatedly protested to the EFCC headquarters demanding his prosecution but despite the promises of doing so, the commission has remained lethargic in carrying out the conclusion of the case.
Just last week, the news went viral that Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has assured that it would continue the alleged N70 billion corruption case against committed by the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle while he was the governor of Zamfara State from 2019 to 2023 but nothing has happened yet.
Matawalle even had a running battle with the former Chairman of EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa, who he accused of demanding two million dollars bribe from him (Ex-Governor Matawalle) over this same matter. It has been equally suggested in some quarters that the body movement of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who despite the dangling corruption case on Matawalle’s neck went ahead and appointed him Minister of State for Defence might have probably constrained the anti corruption watch dog from biting the former number one citizen of Zamfara State.
Protest groups from the state had severally demanded his sack from the federal cabinet to redeem the image of President Tinubu led government as one that shields corrupt individuals from facing justice.
Without holding Matawalle to account over the claims that he allegedly diverted seventy billion Naira from the Zamfara treasury to his personal account, the EFCC lacks the moral justification to keep harassing the Ex-governor of Kogi Stste, Yahaya Bello.
The EFCC under Olukoyede must conduct the affairs of the commission in good conscience. He has no explanation for confining Matawalle’s alleged corruption case to mere claims of not abandoning it. As a federal minister, the Ex-governor is not under any immunity, so EFCC has no reason not to prosecute him if he actually committed the alleged infraction.
EFCC can not convince Nigerians that it’s raging war against Yahaya Bello is not vindictive if it fails to conclude that of the Ex-Governor of Zamfara State which it started a year ago. It must also show its concern for every state of the federation, which resources have been misappropriated by any Governor, the same way it is chasing to recover money from Bello for the benefit of Kogi people.
Adamu Garba writes from Lokoja