The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, has asked Yahaya Bello, a former governor of Kogi State, to turn himself in to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
He said in a statement on Thursday that the EFCC has statutory powers “to invite any person of interest to interact with them in the course of their investigation into any matter regardless of status.”
Mr Bello, who faces N80 billion money laundering charges, refused to appear before the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday where he was expected to take his plea.
READ ALSO: EFCC threatens to invite military to bring ex-gov. Yahaya Bello to court
Earlier on Wednesday, EFCC operatives laid siege to Mr Bello’s residence in Wuse Zone 4, Abuja, for several hours in a bid to arrest him.
The operatives were unable to carry out the court-ordered arrest as a result of the stiff resistance they faced from the police personnel guarding the house.
The incumbent Governor of Kogi State, Usman Ododo, later showed at the house during the police-EFCC stand-off.
He was believed to have later departed the residence in his official vehicle with with Mr Bello.
Mr Bello failed to appear in court for his scheduled arraignment in court on Thursday, but his lawyers were present.
AGF reacts
But in a statement later on Thursday, the AGF, Mr Fagbemi, condemned the former governor’s conduct of refusing to submit himself for trial.
The minister described the standoff between the EFCC and police personnel as a matter of “grave concern.”
He said the EFCC has statutory powers “to invite any person of interest to interact with them in the course of their investigation into any matter regardless of status.”
“Therefore, the least that we can all do when invited, is not to put any obstruction in the way of EFCC but to honourably answer their invitation.
“A situation where public officials who are themselves subject of protection by law enforcement agents will set up a stratagem of obstruction to the civil and commendable efforts of the EFCC to perform its duty is to say the least, insufferably disquieting.
“I therefore encourage anyone who has been invited by the EFCC or any other agency to immediately toe the path of decency and civility by honouring such invitation instead of embarking on a temporising self-help and escapism that can only put our country in bad light before the rest of the world.”
Wanted
The EFCC declared Mr Bello wanted after Thursday’s proceedings.
READ ALSO:UPDATED: EFCC declares ex-governor Yahaya Bello wanted
The commission urged members of the public with credible information about Mr Bello’s whereabouts to volunteer such to the agency.
At Thursday’s proceedings, EFCC’s prosecuting counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, said efforts by the EFCC to arrest and serve the pending charges on Mr Bello were thwarted by the current Governor of Kogi State, Usman Ododo, who was said to have sneaked Mr Bello away in his official vehicle.
Mr Pinheiro, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), leading Jibrin Okutepa, also a SAN, for the prosecution, said a “bloodbath” was averted on account of the anti-graft agency’s professionalism in handling the stand-off between EFCC operatives who were trying to arrest Mr Bello and the police officers attached to the residence obstructing the former governor’s arrest.
Court hearing
Furious about Mr Bello’s failure to attend court on Thursday for arraignment, EFCC prosecutor, Kemi Pinheiro, said the government would not mind inviting the military to bring him to court.
Mr Pinheiro, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), leading Jibrin Okutepa, also a SAN, for the prosecution, said a “bloodbath” was averted on account of the anti-graft agency’s professionalism in handling the stand-off between EFCC operatives who were trying to arrest Mr Bello and the police officers attached to the residence obstructing the former governor’s arrest.
The prosecuting lawyer clarified that while Mr Ododo enjoys immunity from prosecution, his predecessor, Mr Bello, has since lost his immunity and must be brought before the court.
Referencing section 12 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, Mr Pinheiro said, “We will invite the military if need be to produce the defendant (Mr Bello) in court. Immunity does not attach to a home; it attaches to a person. We will produce the defendant in court.”
But Mr Bello’s lawyer, Abdulwahab Muhammed, said his client was not in breach of any court order.
Mr Muhammed, a SAN, cited an order of a High Court in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, restraining the EFCC from arresting and detaining his client.
Also, the defence lawyer argued that an appeal on the suit was pending at the Court of Appeal in Abuja.
EFCC’s move to bring Mr Bello to trial follows years of investigating him and his family members.
The commission’s longtime investigations of the former governor had resulted in the N10 billion money laundering charges it instituted against his nephew, Ali Bello, and a co-defendant in 2022.
The prosecution named former Governor Bello in one of the newly introduced counts as an accomplice, but not as a defendant.
In the new case, the EFCC accused Mr Bello, his nephew, Ali Bello; Dauda Suleiman and Abdulsalam Hudu (said to still be at large) of conspiring to convert the total sum of N80 billion (N80, 246,470, 088.88) in February 2016.
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