Austin Okai, a human rights advocate and public affairs commentator, claims that the recent EFCC investigation involving former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello stems from an incident in 2022 when N20 billion of Kogi State bailout funds were found in Sterling Bank.
He mentioned that despite the state government's denial, the EFCC, led by Bawa, acted to return the money to the Central Bank of Nigeria. From February 2022 to February 2nd, 2023, a legal process unfolded where the EFCC, under Bawa's leadership, obtained a court order to seize several assets owned by Yahaya Bello. These assets, located in places like Dubai and Maitama, were directed to be surrendered to the Nigerian federal government. He noted that the new EFCC Chairman, inheriting the case, reviewed its specifics and notified the former governor of the issues involved.
He said in an interview with Arise TV, ''I think some people don't know Yahaya Bello, he's one of the sophisticated governors that you can't just approach. We are all aware of this case. This case started in 2022 when N20Bn of Kogi State bailout fund was found in Sterling bank. The state government denied that money, and the EFCC under Bawa refunded that money back to the CBN.
After that, there was a case that started from February 2022 to the 2nd of February 2023. The same EFCC under Bawa got a court order where so many of his assets including in Dubai, Maitama and so many places were asked to forfeit it to the federal government.t of Nigeria by the EFCC order. As the EFCC Chairman has said, he inherited the case and he called the d on the file. And he told the governor that there was a problem. The court order that the former governor obtained is about his fundamental human right and I'm not aware of any court order that can stop EFCC from investigating a criminal offense.''
Please watch the video below and fast forward to:10:38