Immediate past governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello is said to be the next in a long line of former Governors to be investigated for corrupt practices by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
This is in relation to his practices while in office of governor, and the former Kogi helmsman would be invited for questioning.
Bello’s immunity expired after the end of his tenure and reign as Kogi State’s executive governor. Without immunity, Bello may be arrested by the commission for alleged money laundering and financial breaches while serving, according to Daily Times.
Justice Nicholas Oweibo of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos struck out the commission’s suit seeking the forfeiture of 14 properties belonging to Yahaya Bello as well as the sum of N400m linked to the Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, citing his immunity from prosecution under the 1999 constitution.
The EFCC also claimed that the trial court erred in law when it overturned a preservation order for properties reasonably suspected to have been derived from the proceeds of illegal activities, despite its findings that the Respondent failed to demonstrate the genuine origin of funds used to acquire the properties under the preservation order.
On Wednesday, February 22, 2023, Justice Oweibo granted an interim forfeiture of the properties in Lagos, Abuja, and the United Arab Emirates, and also ordered the preservation of the sum of N400,000,000.00 (Four Hundred Million Naira) recovered from one Aminu Falala, which “is reasonably suspected to have been derived from unlawful activity and intended to be used for the acquisition of Plot No. 1224 Bishop Oluwole Street, Victoria Island.”