EFCC chair: How Yahaya Bello declined invitation for interrogation

The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede says he made personal efforts to invite former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello to respond to investigations regarding his alleged involvement in money laundering to the tune of N80.2 billion.

Olukoyede disclosed this while addressing media executives at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday, April 23, 2024.

According to him, he had a telephone conversation with Bello offering him ample opportunities to present himself for interrogation by investigators of the EFCC.

He said: “On my honour, I put a call to him to honour him as a former governor. He said, ‘I can’t come’, claiming that a certain lady has surrounded the EFCC with over 100 journalists to embarrass or intimidate him and all that stuff.

“I said if that is your fear, I will make you come directly to my floor. I will invite my operatives to interrogate you in my own office. What could be more honourable than that? Do you know what he said? ‘Can’t they come to my village?’

“My director of investigations also sent a message to him.”

EFCC chairman: I’ll resign if Yahaya Bello is not prosecuted

The EFCC boss added that he was worried at the report of larceny available to the EFCC concerning the former governor.

“A sitting governor, because he knew he was going, he moved money directly from the government’s account to a bureau de change to pay his children’s school fees in advance, $7,200, in anticipation that he was going to leave government house,” Olukoyede said.

Olukoyede further disclosed that the EFCC, in its bid to ensure the safety and stability of the foreign exchange market, has uncovered a new fraudulent scheme called P to P, peer to peer trading scheme.

The platform, according to him, is operating outside the official banking and financial corridors, with more than 300 accounts linked to it already frozen by the EFCC.

He reaffirmed the commitment of the anti-graft agency to the economic growth and development of the country, promising that the EFCC would not relent in the exercise of its mandate.

Olukoyede revealed that the commission has recovered over N120 billion from fraudsters within six months and secured more than 1,300 convictions.

Olukoyede called on Nigerians to be more dedicated to the nation, stressing that patriotic citizens should offer more support to the EFCC because the anti-graft agency is crucial to the growth and development of Nigeria.

“If you support the EFCC, you are working for the growth of Nigeria. We all have stakes in the wellbeing of our nation,” he said.

The Star