THE CABLE
What was supposed to be a “soft landing” deal for Yahaya Bello, immediate-past governor of Kogi state, to end his protracted face-off with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) went awry at the car park of the anti-graft agency on Wednesday morning.
Usman Ododo, his successor, had negotiated the deal for Bello with some senior officials of the Bola Tinubu administration — under which the former governor would return some state funds traced to him in exchange for a plea bargain, insiders told TheCable.
TheCable could not confirm the full terms of the negotiation, but the anti-graft agency was still expected to charge Bello to court regardless, even if for lesser offences.
Armed with what he thought was a sealed deal, Ododo took Bello from Lokoja, the Kogi state capital where he had been hiding for months, to Abuja on Tuesday, and accompanied him to the EFCC headquarters on Wednesday.
TheCable understands that Ododo used his status as a sitting governor to gain entrance into the EFCC premises without formalities, following which he announced that Bello was there to honour the invitation the commission sent to him after he left office in January 2024.
A SERIES OF DRAMATIC EVENTS
The development was expected to end the saga, which had seen Nigerian authorities issue a Red Notice to Interpol after the former governor was declared wanted.
However, it turned out that Ola Olukoyede, the EFCC chairman, did not appear to be in on the deal.
When Ododo called Michael Nzekwe, chief of staff to the EFCC chairman, on the phone to announce Bello’s arrival, Nzekwe told the governor that his boss was not around, as the commission was not aware they were coming.
Insiders told TheCable that Nzekwe asked them to leave, promising to get back to them as soon as the coast was clear.
By this time, Ohiare Michael, Bello’s aide, had issued a press statement announcing that his principal had “honoured the EFCC invitation”.
Insiders in both camps told TheCable different versions of what happened next.
According to Bello’s associates, the entourage had spent four hours within the EFCC premises before Nzekwe told them to leave and return when the chairman would be in the office.
They contended that the chairman did not need to personally receive Bello as the EFCC has institutional processes to handle those invited for interrogation.
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