By Olabisi Deji-Folutile
Personally, I usually restrain from commenting on Nigeria’s political issues. I do, not because I don’t have opinions, but because most times, I don’t really know where to start from. As you are thinking of one, more than ten issues rear their ugly heads almost simultaneously. That is why I chose to limit myself to focusing on issues that have to do with the education sector. Even at that, I caution myself these days because I am not really sure if those in authorities read these things and, if they do, whether it makes meaning to them or not.
But I can’t but talk about the circus game the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is playing with the former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello. Perhaps, the urge to talk about this wouldn’t have been but for the fact that it was one of the topics analysed when I appeared on TVC as an analyst on Journalists Hangout. On the programme, I expressed my curiosity as to why the EFCC would allow someone who had been on its Wanted List for months to return home ‘in peace’ after voluntarily presenting himself to the commission.
As many other Nigerians, I woke up to find out that the former governor of Kogi, popularly known as the White Lion, who the EFCC had told Nigerians times without number, was hiding in an unknown place, had voluntarily reported to the EFCC office to honour the commission’s invite. Bello was being haunted by the EFCC for allegedly laundering N84billion of Kogi State’s money.
Before Thursday, the EFCC chairman, Ola Olukoyede, had waited for more than four months to get Bello behind a dock. He even promised in April this year that he would resign if he failed to get the former governor to stand trial for the money laundering case against him. Then he made it clear that Bello could only run, but couldn’t hide. “I don’t mind the outcome of this case, but the right thing must be done. If we don’t see this case through, I will resign,” he had threatened.
But just as it was being reported that Bello had gone to EFCC, a statement from the office of the agency stated in clear terms that the former governor was not in its custody. It also added that Bello remained a Wanted Person. Before we knew what was going on, there were pictures of the former governor in media space showing that he was actually at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja accompanied by his successor, Governor Usman Ododo. He was also seen with the Chief of Staff to the EFCC chairman, Mr. Michael Nzekwe. Later we heard that the former governor was with EFCC for four hours and that some of the commission’s directors that attended to him, as well as the chairman’s chief of staff, asked him to go back home. Hours later, EFCC operatives were seen firing gunshots within the premises of the Kogi State Governor’s Lodge in Asokoro, Abuja in an attempt to forcefully arrest Bello. At the end of the drama, nobody was arrested. The video of the invasion of the Government House was all around the media space.
I had expected the EFCC to come up with a plausible reason for their actions but unfortunately days after this drama, nothing has happened. I think the commission is now saddled with a moral burden to explain to Nigerians what is going on here. Has the commission been compromised? Could it be that the whole noise about Yahaya Bello is all a ruse after all? I know that the former governor had claimed that the reason why he refused to honour the EFCC invitation in the past was because he had an order of the court stopping the commission from arresting him. A Lokoja federal high court had restrained the anti-graft agency or its agents from harassing, arresting, detaining or prosecuting Bello, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive fundamental rights enforcement action. But EFCC also got the court’s nod to arrest the former governor. That was the situation until the court of Appeal sitting in Abuja upheld a ruling of a federal high court in Abuja restraining the former governor from moving any preliminary objection until he is arraigned.
Bello must have decided to voluntarily present himself to the EFCC when the order of the court he was relying on had been vacated. He is billed to appear in court on September 25. Why should EFCC treat the case the way it did? Nigerians need to know what is going on. The Nigerian people are not that gullible. If the agency is working for Nigerians, we need more transparency.
The EFCC is supposed to be an anti-graft body working in the interest of Nigerians. My concern is that the commission has failed to meet the expectation of many people in going about its duties. Already, many Nigerians see the commission as an instrument of fighting perceived enemies. They are still waiting to be convinced that the commission is truly interested in prosecuting corrupt Nigerians. Can we blame them? After all, if EFCC is truly fighting corruption, probably half of the people in power today will have no business being there. We know too many people whose cases are with the EFCC who are either walking in corridors of power or left in peace to enjoy their loot. It is also no news that despite EFCC’S media hypes about many high-profile corruption cases, nothing tangible has come out of them. The way the EFCC is handling this Yahaya Bello’s case is beginning to smell like a political vendetta of some sort.
The excuse that the presence of a sitting governor that enjoys immunity with Yahaya Bello was the reason why the commission could not attend to him is not tenable. Nyesom Wike as governor of Rivers State brought Ayo Fayose, former governor of Ekiti State, to the EFCC office when he voluntarily surrendered himself to the commission in 2018 and nothing happened. Wike brought him and left. Nobody could have prevented EFCC from detaining Bello if it wanted to. Anything contrary is a mere excuse. The truth is until last Thursday, EFCC could justify the blame game between it and Yahaya Bello. But as it is, I’m afraid, the EFCC no longer has any excuse.
Nobody is interested in the drama attached to arresting a suspect, especially politically exposed ones. Neither are Nigerians interested in media trials of perceived political opponents. What I think most people want is an anti-graft agency that will live to its name. Is the current EFCC capable of doing this? Time will tell.
Olabisi Deji-Folutile is the publisher of franktalknow.com and director at AF24News
