Kogi’s funds not missing, working for citizens – Govt

The Kogi Government said on Tuesday that none of its funds are missing as every one of its kobo is working for the entire population of the state.

The government therefore rejected the desperate attempt by “criminals masquerading as politicians” to tarnish the image of the immediate past governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, for selfish reasons through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged missing funds.

The government, which made the remarks in a statement issued in Lokoja by its commissioner for information, Mr. Kingsley Fanwo, said such desperation would only leave Nigerians wondering “who exactly is afraid of Yahaya Bello?

“This is because the EFCC has, in an amended charge, accused the former governor of diverting Kogi government funds in September 2015, four months before he assumed the position of governor.

“This is not only laughable but also portrays the EFCC as an agency infested with persons whose intents disagree with the noble intention of Mr. President to defeat corruption in Nigeria.

“The fact that the EFCC, in charge No. FHC/ABJ/CR/550/2022: FRN v. Ali Bello and Dauda Suleiman, currently pending before Honourable Justice J.K. Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja Division, further amended the ‘Amended Charge’ to include in the count the name of Yahaya Bello, is absurd.

“Again, describing him as being ‘at large’, is ridiculous, laughable, and portrays the EFCC as an agency infested with persons whose intents disagree with the noble intention of Mr. President to defeat corruption in Nigeria.

“Being ‘at large’ of course means that a person is evading arrest or is on the run and cannot be found after an attempt to arrest.

“For the sake of clarity, the original charge is against Ali Bello and Dauda Suleiman, Ali’s associate.

“The offence which H.E. Yahaya Bello is alleged to have committed, upon which he has been named in the count, is conspiracy to convert the total sum of N80.2 million, which offence is said to have occurred on or about September 2015 in Abuja,” it said.

The government expressed surprise that the Count alleged that Bello’s co-conspirators are Abdulsalami Hudu (Kogi Government House Cashier), described as being ‘at large’ too, Ali Bello, and Dauda Suleiman.

It said: “In the EFCC’s desperation to nail H.E. Yahaya Bello, they forgot their thinking hammer at home.

“The count of the offence is most laughable, as the election that produced H.E. Yahaya Bello, CON, as Governor of Kogi was only conducted in November 2015.

“Indeed, H.E. Captain Idris Wada of the PDP held sway as Governor of Kogi State at the material time until he handed over to H.E. Yahaya Bello on January 27, 2016.

“Bello could, therefore, not have, as of September 2015, conspired with anyone, including Abdulsalami Hudu, a Kogi government house cashier, to convert any money belonging to the Kogi government.

“It is to be noted that H.E. Yahaya Bello, before becoming the Governor of Kogi, had no financial dealings with the Kogi government, which could have permitted him to convert monies belonging to the Kogi government; hence, one’s dismay at the allegation.”

The commissioner therefore warned political actors to steer clear of Kogi affairs and desist from their campaign of calumny, “as the state government has not said its money is missing and has been adjudged, both locally and internationally, as top in the area of transparency and accountability.”.

The state government asked, “Why should Nigerians trust the leadership of the agency that made such a ridiculous, shameless, and indefensible allegation?”

“The chairman of the commission should tender unreserved apologies to the Nigerian people for making us a laughing stock in the community of nations.

“We are calling on the President to step in to save the integrity of the EFCC from those pushing the Commission into a fight that should be left to politicians.

“This is because the Kogi government, under the leadership of Alhaji Usman Ododo, will continue to support the renewed hope agenda of Mr. President.

“We will also continue to promote probity, accountability, and transparency and open our books to agencies and institutions constitutionally empowered to look into them.

“We will continue to win awards for transparency and accountability,” it added.

According to the government, the journey did not begin today because, in 2021, the EFCC, in a desperate bid to embarrass the then government under the leadership of Bello, came out with a false claim that it had uncovered over N20 billion of the state’s bailout fund in a fixed deposit account at Sterling Bank.

“Emboldened by our innocence, we wrote a letter to Sterling Bank for clarifications.

“The Bank came out clean, showing that the Kogi government had no such account with it, rubbishing the blatant falsehood of the EFCC in a manner that was so embarrassing to the people and government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“But rather than apologise to us, the Kogi government, and the general public, the EFCC chose to harass the officials of Sterling Bank, coercing them to do everything possible to achieve the aim of roping the Kogi government into their ignominy ring.

“It ended with a conspiratorial exchange between the EFCC and the CBN. Today, Nigerians are not confused about the personae of Bawa and Emefiele.

“The sack of Bawa and the startling revelations that followed threw Nigerians into jubilation. Their hope was that the EFCC would birth a new era of separating political vendetta from the actual fight against corruption.

“But recent happenings have shown that it isn't a war against corruption anymore but a clear manifestation of a hired gun approach to hacking down political opponents by certain elements within and outside the anti-graft agency.

“This betrays the determination of President Bola Tinubu to retool the agency and make it more vibrant in preventing and fighting corruption in a genuine and objective manner within the ambit of the rule of law.”

It noted that the current leadership of the EFCC had, unfortunately, continued to tow the path of the leadership of Bawa, “who woke up one day in August 2021 and decided in his mind that the Kogi Government had N20 billion in an account.”.

It said that Bawa secured ex-parte an order of the Federal High Court, Lagos, empowering him to direct the manager of Sterling Bank Plc to freeze Account No. 0073572696 with the name Kogi State Salary Bail Out Account pending the conclusion of an investigation or possible prosecution.

“There is no mandate letter from the Kogi government to open account number 0073572696 with Sterling, and that ‘Sterling Bank account 0073572696’ is an internal (mirror) account operated by the Bank for purposes of managing the Kogi state salary bailout facility.

“While the EFCC’s suit was withdrawn and the Order of Court vacated upon a challenge by the Kogi government, the EFCC continued to issue press statements on all its social media platforms, attaching pictures of Yahaya Bello to those statements and insisting that the factual basis of their claim was genuine.

“To cover up the falsehood and their shame, the EFCC under Bawa compelled Sterling Bank Plc and the CBN under its embattled Governor Emefiele to write letters confirming the return of funds belonging to the Kogi State Government to the CBN, when no such funds existed.

“The EFCC has since refused to answer the suit filed against it since 2021 by the Kogi State Government and its officials challenging the falsehood on the issue of bailout funds.”.

The government also frowned at EFCC’s use of similar modus operandi with respect to the former first lady of Kogi, Rashida Bello, whom it named in the counts of offence and described her as being at large in Charge No. FHC/ABJ/573/2022: FRN V. (1) Ali Bello (2) Abba Adaudu (3) Yakubu Siyaka Adabenege (4) Iyadi Sadat and was alleged to have conspired to criminally misappropriate over three billion naira, funds allegedly belonging to some local government areas of Kogi.

“It is noteworthy that she was never invited by the EFCC or arrested before branding her as being ‘at large’.

“The unprecedented extent to which the EFCC is ready to go to tarnish the image of the Kogi State Government and also the image of the immediate past governor, Yahaya Bello, has left much to be desired.

“It is in our character to fight in defence of the integrity of the government and over five million citizens, whose common patrimony the government allocates on their behalf. We are prepared to use the instrumentality of the law to defend the integrity of the state government.

“We urge the people of Kogi to remain calm and law-abiding in the face of relentless provocation by the EFCC, which is insisting that the money we used to build infrastructure in the state is missing. We will never lose a just battle."