LOKOJA, Nigeria – Conflicting reports have emerged from the All Progressives Congress (APC) screening committee in Kogi State regarding the eligibility of former Governor Yahaya Bello to contest the party’s Kogi Central Senatorial District primary election.
Okay News reports that a massive political storm erupted on Monday, May 18, 2026, following leaked documents suggesting that the former governor had been disqualified for failing to appear before the party’s national screening panel. Insiders initially claimed that Bello deliberately boycotted the exercise in Abuja to evade answering “Question 7” on the senatorial expression of interest form, which requires the explicit disclosure of ongoing criminal indictments, and to avoid a potential ambush by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Bello is currently facing two separate, high-profile corruption cases spearheaded by the anti-graft agency before Justice Emeka Nwite at the Federal High Court in Abuja. The first involves a 19-count charge of alleged money laundering amounting to ₦80.2 billion, which includes accusations of structured cash withdrawals and luxury property acquisitions in Nigeria and Dubai. The second features a 16-count charge detailing the alleged diversion of ₦110.4 billion from the Kogi State treasury alongside co-defendants Umar Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu. Critics, civil society groups, and rival factions within the ruling party have heavily questioned the morality of clearing an aspirant with such severe unresolved legal liabilities, warning that it could tarnish the party’s image ahead of the 2027 general elections.
However, in a sharp twist, mainstream party organs and official statements from the APC National Assembly Screening Committee have aggressively debunked the disqualification narrative. National media outlets confirmed that the ruling party successfully cleared Yahaya Bello alongside Momoh Obaro and Ibrahim Yakubu Adoke to contest the Kogi Central ticket. State party stakeholders described the circulating reports of his disqualification as orchestrated misinformation by political opponents designed to cause panic, confirming that the former governor successfully scaled the screening hurdles and had already arrived at his ward in Kogi Central on Monday afternoon to participate in the voting process.
