Ola Olukoyede, Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has disclosed shocking details about the financial activities of a former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, alleging that Bello transferred $720,000 from the state’s funds to a bureau de change before leaving office to prepay his child’s school fees.
Olukoyede made this revelation during a recent interview with journalists in Abuja, shedding light on the misuse of public funds for personal expenses.
“A sitting governor, because he knows he is going, moved money directly from government to bureau de change, used it to pay the child’s school fee in advance, $720,000 in advance, in anticipation that he was going to leave the Government House,” Olukoyede stated.
“In a poor state like Kogi, and you want me to close my eyes to that under the guise of ‘I’m being used.’ Being used by who at this stage of my life?”
The EFCC chairman further explained that he personally extended an invitation to Bello to clarify the situation within the EFCC’s premises, offering a respectful setting for discussion.
However, Bello declined to cooperate, citing fears of harassment from an unnamed individual.
“I didn’t initiate the case; I inherited the case file. I called for the file, and I said there are issues here. On my own, I called him, which I am not supposed to do, just to honour him as an immediate past governor,” Olukoyede recounted.
“He said, ‘Ha! Thank you, my brother. I know, but I can’t come. There’s one lady that has surrounded EFCC with over 100 people to come and embarrass me and intimitade me.’
He continued, “I said if that is the issue, I’m going to pass you through my own gate, and you will come to my floor. We will accord you that respect. I will invite my operatives; they will interrogate and interview you in my own office. What could be more honourable than that to allay the fear?”
Despite the chairman’s efforts to facilitate a cooperative discussion, Bello suggested that the EFCC investigators visit his village instead of conducting the investigation at the agency’s headquarters.
