According to reports, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is currently in Abuja trying to arrest the former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello.
It was gathered that operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission stormed the Abuja home of Bello, located in Wuse Zone 4, Federal Capital Territory.
Reacting to the development, the ex-governor’s media office, in a statement, berated the action of the operatives while calling on President Bola Tinubu to caution the EFCC.
According to the statement, the presence of the operatives in Bello’s residence flouted the order of injunction granted on February 9, 2024, by the High Court of Justice, Lokoja Division, in Suit No. HCL/68M/2024 between Yahaya Bello v. EFCC, restraining the commission either by itself or its agents from harassing, arresting, detaining, or prosecuting the former governor, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive fundamental rights enforcement action.
The statement read, “The EFCC was duly served with that order on February 12, 2024, and on February 26, 2024, the EFCC filed an appeal (Appeal No.: CA/ABJ/CV/175/2024: Economic and Financial Crimes Commission v. Alhaji Yahaya Bello) against the said order to the Court of Appeal Abuja Division. The appeal was accompanied by a Motion for a Stay of Execution of the order of the High Court, which the Court of Appeal adjourned for hearing till April 22, 2024.
“Furthermore, judgment in the substantive case between Alhaji Yahaya Bello and the EFCC will be delivered at 12 noon today in Lokoja.
“Contrary to all of the above, the EFCC has now laid siege to the home of H.E Yahaya Bello, seeking to arrest him in contravention of the extant orders!
“It is a surprise that an agency led by a lawyer could flagrantly disobey a subsisting court order by taking actions contrary to the reliefs granted.
”We are aware of the total commitment of President Bola Tinubu’s current administration to the rule of law and can say categorically that the EFCC leadership might have offered the agency on a platter of gold to desperate politicians to convert it to their score-settling tool without minding the effect on its integrity and the image of Nigeria as regards the rule of law.”
Earlier, the anti-graft commission had dragged Yahaya Bello, his nephew Ali, one Dauda Sulaiman, and Abdulsalam Hudu before Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja, in an amended charge in March 2024 over an alleged N84bn money laundering.
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