Ola Olukoyede, chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), reported that Yahaya Bello, the former governor of Kogi, withdrew $720,000 from the state’s funds for his child’s school fees in advance.
Speaking in Abuja during a session with media on Tuesday, Olukoyede claimed that Bello transferred the amount from the state’s funds to a currency exchange operator for the payment of his child’s fees.
He mentioned that Bello made this transaction expecting the end of his term.
Olukoyede who inherited the investigation file, stated that he did not start the probe against Bello.
“A sitting governor, because he knew he was leaving office, moved money directly from the government to bureau de change and used it to pay his child’s school fee in advance.
“Over $720,000 in anticipation that he was going to leave the government house. In a poor state like Kogi, you want me to close my eyes under the guise of ‘I’m being used’. Used by who? At this stage of my life,” the EFCC chairman said.
On April 17, EFCC agents surrounded Bello’s Abuja home in a move to arrest him for an alleged N80 billion fraud.
During the siege, Usman Ododo, the current governor of Kogi, stormed the residence and whisked away Bello.
Following these events, the EFCC issued a wanted notice for Bello. The Nigeria Immigration Service has also placed him on a watchlist.
The EFCC accused Bello, along with Alli Bello, Ododo’s chief of staff, and Daudu Suleiman, of misappropriating approximately N80.2 billion of Kogi’s funds.
