On Wednesday, former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello finally appeared before the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja, where the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has him and two others over N100bn corruption allegations.
Since leaving the governorship in January 2024, Bello has played hide-and-seek with the EFCC, trying to avoid prosecution.
Apart from this FCT prosecution, Bello faces another N80bn money laundering case at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Counsel for Bello, Joseph Dauda, requested bail for the defendants, describing Bello’s appearance in court as a sign of “his commitment to stand trial.”
However, Mr. Pinheiro objected, citing Bello’s history of disregarding court summons and judicial processes.
“The records before this court demonstrate bad conduct,” he said. The first defendant has treated previous court orders with disdain, including failing to appear before the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal. This conduct punctures his claim of good behaviour and commitment to justice.”
He also underlined the gravity of the allegations, saying, “This case involves over N130bn in public funds, alleged to have been used to acquire properties across Abuja and other locations. Given the defendant’s political influence, granting bail poses a significant risk to the integrity of the trial.”
But it was a court appearance that the defendant treated like a political carnival, and his supporters so enraged the judge that she walked out.
Nonetheless, it is now official that Bello is tired of the old game, meaning that a new one has begun. Before I publish my prediction about what will happen next, let me clarify that this new game is as old as the EFCC—twenty years old. As a table tennis enthusiast, let me describe the mechanics.
In table tennis or ping pong, a game begins with the first player serving. The serve is legal when the ball hits the server’s side of the table, goes over the net without touching it, and lands on the opponent’s side.
The opponent must then return the ball legally—over the net to the server’s side, whether or not it touches the net. If the opponent succeeds, the server continues the game by returning the ball over the net, even if it touches it. The goal for each player is to force the opponent, using skilful spins, feints, and variations in speed or force, to fail to return the ball legally. The first player to reach 11 points, or to win a tiebreaker, wins the game.
If you think about it, two experienced players, armed with the “right” incentive, can play one game forever. And if you work your way back from the EFCC’s results, this is exactly what the EFCC has achieved.
Consider this evidence: Every year now for seven years, the Human and Environmental Development Agenda has published a fascinating document called “A Compendium of 100 High Profile Corruption Cases in Nigeria.”
That is, since the EFCC was 13, it has offered this public research, and one year ago this month, it published the 7th edition.
That edition published in Vanguard on 22 January 2023, identified “14 ex-govs fingered in N21 trillion, $47.4 billion alleged fraud in 15 years.”
14 men. 15 years. $47.4bn. The EFCC said nothing.
On its website, HEDA also has a long list of over 50 requests and complaints it has addressed to the EFCC over the years, including one to investigate the report of the Auditor-General of the Federation from 1999-2018.
In this column, I have complained that relevant officials do not read the report.
In addition, others include:
- In May 2016, Sunday PUNCH ran a story in which it said: “Nigeria has lost over N38tn through mismanagement, embezzlement and money laundering under successive administrations since democracy returned in 1999.”
- In May 2021, Dataphyte began an exhaustive four-part series called “Okorocha’s Predecessors.” (1) was “EFCC investigated 30 Ex-governors for embezzling N975 billion.” Here are (II) (III) and (IV).
- In August 2022, Premium Times ran a Special Report it called “11 forgotten cases of alleged corruption by former Nigerian state governors.”
It stated that of the 31 governors the EFCC had investigated (including President Bola Tinubu and current Senate President Goodswill Akpabio), 11 had been taken to court, with only two convictions.Related News
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- On May 4, Vanguard published, “Graft: How 58 ex-governors allegedly looted N2.187trn,” in which it said that in the 4th Republic, some “58 former governorshave looted, embezzled, laundered or misappropriated the sum of N2.187 trillion.”
It also observed that of the commission’s 6,981 convictions between 2020 and 2022, there was no former governor.
- Also on May 4, The Cable published a similar story, “33 prosecuted, six convicted… EFCC’s corruption cases against ex-governors” in which it reviewed “the trials of former governors” by the agency since its establishment. The Telegraph published the same story hours later.
The following day, the EFCC denied the Vanguard report without challenging the newspaper by name, describing the list of governors as a “fabrication designed to achieve motives known only to the authors.”
It said nothing about the stories in The Cable and Telegraph.
Everyone knows that governorship is the most privileged political office in Nigeria.
It is not as powerful as the presidency, but it is less watched, and for 24 years, governors have ruthlessly taken advantage of the vast resources available to advance themselves.
It is routine for them to fly family and friends overseas for holidays, shopping, investment and fun.
Recently, one governor, despite having multiple wives, flew at least one girlfriend into the state capital from the US in First Class, according to the lady herself.
Much of the stealing in the governorship is barely hidden, and nearly every governor becomes rich by the time he leaves office. The EFCC’s showmanship includes threatening that it is waiting for these men to lose their immunity, but its investigations turn out to be infantile or mismanaged, perhaps by design.
Prosecutions are even more amateurish, files becoming “lost,” or cases somehow falling apart.
Governors become so rich and powerful that they convert their offices into Senatorial chairs; in the current Senate, some of them shamelessly collect governorship pensions.
This is how the EFCC has become a far bigger disease and enabler than the ailment that it was established to treat.
In “Economic and Financial Crimes Collusion” three years ago, I described this problem.
Think about this: It is already seven months since I wrote: “Yahaya Bello on trial, just like the EFCC.”
Now, here we are, with the former governor formally in court. What happens next?
Does the commission care about its reputation? Not in my view. Almost every year since 2008, I have pointed out its lack of commitment to reporting.
This is why, including under the leadership of Ola Olukoyede, who in October 2023, spoke about the integrity of the agency’s staff, it cannot report openly and with confidence.
But integrity without accountability is a contradiction in terms.
What was my prediction of Yahaya Bello then? The EFCC will go through the motions of what I described in 2013 as Nigeria’s “grand corruption conspiracy,” and Bello will join what is certain to become HEDA’s 200 or 500 High Profile Cases.
With a committed government, the EFCC should be unbundled into three or four agencies. Otherwise, Nigerians should combat the conspiracy differently.
