Prosecute Yahaya Bello or I’m Out: EFCC Boss Threatens to Resign

EFCC boss, Ola Olukoyede, says he’s determined to make sure Yahaya Bello, the former governor of Kogi State, faces trial. Olukoyede said this during a talk with reporters at the EFCC office in Abuja.

Olukoyede vows to resign his job if Bello isn’t prosecuted. He also vowed that those who tried to stop Bello’s arrest will be punished accordingly. The EFCC wants to take Bello to court for 19 crimes including stealing of over N80.2 billion.

Olukoyede says he won’t give up fighting corruption, no matter what happens. He asks for support from Nigerians because if the EFCC fails, Nigeria will fail.

Meanwhile, Bello’s lawyer has received the charges for the N80 billion fraud case. This happened because Bello didn’t come to court when he was supposed to.

The judge says it’s okay to give the charges to the lawyer if the accused is absent in court. Bello’s lawyer had to accept the charges even though he didn’t want to.

Bello’s lawyer says his client would have come to court but he’s scared he won’t get a fair trial. He wants the arrest warrant canceled.

Bello insisted that the EFCC shouldn’t arrest him because it is an illegal organization.

Bello had argued that the EFCC was an illegal organisation. According to him, the Federal Government did not consult the 36 states of the federation before enacting the EFCC Act through the National Assembly.

He added that section 12 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, required the various Houses of Assembly to ratify the act before it could become operative

The EFCC’s lawyer says Bello should be arrested unless he shows up in court. The judge agrees and issues a warrant for his arrest.

The EFCC says Bello is wanted for not coming to court and avoiding the charges against him.