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The on-going drama between the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission [EFCC] and the Strong Man of Kogi politics, former governor Yahaya Bello is one that should not have happened in a sane or normal country. Accused by the EFCC of financial crimes of money laundry amounting to over 80 billion naira during his eight year tenure as governor of Kogi state, Yahaya Bello whose immunity from criminal prosecution lapsed in January 2024 is been sought by the anti-graft agency for arraignment in court. The former governor has not only denied these allegations but is counter-accusing the EFCC of politically motivated witch-hunting at the instance of his highly placed political enemies. Apparently convinced about his fear of persecution by the state, Yahaya Bello sought and got some form of protection from a judicial intervention that restrains EFCC from going ahead with his arrest and arraignment citing the preservation of his fundamental human rights under the laws of Nigeria.
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But in a surprise move, the EFCC laid siege on the Benghazi Street, Abuja residence of the former governor seeking his arrest. Yahaya Bello who was present on the scene at the time will not give himself up citing the Restraining Order granted in his favour against the EFCC by a Kogi State High Court in February and which was affirmed by the said court in a ruling on that fateful day. And in what can best be described as ‘’Thriller in Benghazi’’ by writers of fiction, there was a stand-off between the former governor’s security details and EFCC operatives for several hours until Yahaya Bello’s successor and political protégé, Ahmed Usman Ododo charged through the security cordon into residence of his predecessor. The EFCC will later inform the press that Governor Ododo left the scene with former governor Yahaya Bello.
Irked by what it considers an affront on the state and a defiance of constituted authority right in the heart of Nigeria’s Seat of Power by the thrilling events in Benghazi street of Abuja, the Federal Government of Nigeria has declared Yahaya Bello ‘’Wanted’’ and has placed him on a Security Watch list as a Flight Risk with his security details withdrawn by the police authorities. Following this incident, the Nigerian polity has gone into frenzy of some sort as conversations have centred on the dramatis personae in this unfolding drama including the Judiciary, EFCC and Yahaya Bello in a manner that has left public opinion sharply divided. However, sifting through the muddied water of controversy surrounding this unfortunate event, it has become imperative to distil the legal from the political in order to put the Yahya Bello versus EFCC fiasco in proper perspectives.
Under normal circumstances, former governor Yahaya Bello, like any other citizen so accused would have submitted himself to the EFCC without too much ado to defend himself against charges of alleged financial crimes as soon as one day after he left office. But if he feels harassed, threatened and persecuted by the EFCC then he is within his rights to seek the protection of judicial intervention. However, if in spite of the reliefs granted to him by a court of competent jurisdiction, the EFCC knocks on his door to arrest him, he is under obligation to submit without resisting but proceed to court with a contempt charge against the anti-graft agency.
This is because a legal entity like the EFCC is conferred with the presumption of ‘’correctness’’ in the discharge of their core mandate of investigation, arrest and prosecution of suspected offenders except otherwise decided by a law court. Yahaya Bello on the under hand is similarly conferred with the presumption of ‘’innocence’’ by the constitution until found guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction and the EFCC is under obligation to deal with him through the due process of the law without prejudice to his fundamental human right. And allegations levelled against him by the EFCC will have to be proved beyond reasonable doubt in a law court, where Yahaya Bello will have the opportunity to defend himself convincingly.
But the circumstances in today’s Nigeria are anything but normal. Nigeria is the most populous Black Animal Farm in the world where all animals are said to be equal but some are clearly more equal than others. In Nigeria the wheel of justice is often slowed down, obstructed and grinded to a halt by politics when the interest of ‘’more equal animals’’ are at stake. And in a country where the so-called war on corruption by the EFCC since its inception has unfortunately been politicized to such an extent that it has been selective on the basis of the dictates and body language of the occupant of the highest office in the land. As a leading member of the ruling APC, who played a pivotal role in delivering victory to the President Bola Tinubu in the tightly contested 2023 presidential election, it will seem that aYahaya Bello considers himself a part of the class of ‘’animals that are more equal’’ in Nigeria to enjoy the same privilege of having the long arm the law beneath their feet. And why not?
Yahaya Bello must have watched how the former governor of Kano state, Umar Abdullahi Ganduje, who was seen on tape committing what looks like economic and financial crimes of receiving kickback on inflated contracts in dollars, rewarded for his support for President Tinubu with the plum job of the chairman of the ruling APC, while the EFCC has neither arrested him nor charged him to court for this offense. Similarly, Yahaya Bello must be wondering how his former colleague governor of Zamfara state, Bello Mutawale who was similarly accused of multi-billion naira financial malfeasance by the EFCC ended up a minister in the government of Tinubu, without being arrested and charged to court as the anti-graft agency is trying to do in his own case.
How about the fact that the government of Kaduna state has declared bankruptcy as result of the heavy burden of multi-million dollar debt it inherited from the Nasir El-Rufai administration; a situation that has resulted into a probe by state’s House of Assembly, yet the EFCC has not even raised a finger in this case. And seeing how the current government is seriously prosecuting the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, a man who is widely believed to have deployed an politicised monetary policy of ‘’cashlessness’’ and ‘’redesign’’ to sabotage the candidacy of President Bola Tinubu in addition to many other instances of this kind of selective approach to the war on corruption may have left the former governor of Kogi state even more convinced that his is a clear case of persecution and political witch hunting by powerful enemies that have the president’s ears.
As long as the war on corruption is not compressive and remains selective, Yahya Bello’s push back against an important institution of state like the EFCC from within the fold of the ruling establishment will continue unravel the double standards inherent in the system. Therefore, Yahaya Bello’s fiasco with the EFCC is simply an attempt to draw attention of the highest office in the land to the fact that he deserves equal treatment as accorded to the aforementioned individuals that appear to be ‘’animals that are more equal’’ in Tinubu’s Nigeria, having earned his place in this privileged class as one the Most Valuable Players in the APC line up going into the 2023 presidential election.
