The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has barricaded the Abuja home of Yahaya Bello, the former governor of Kogi state.
The anti-graft agency has restricted movement in and around the house located on Benghazi Street in Wuse Zone 4.
The development comes about a month after the EFCC named Bello in an amended money laundering charge filed against Alli Bello, the chief of staff to Kogi Governor Usman Ododo.
The 17-count amended charge names two defendants: Ali and Daudu Suleiman.
The EFCC claimed that the suspects diverted approximately N100 billion belonging to the Kogi government.
In response to the EFCC charge, the Kogi government stated that the state’s funds did not go missing during the former governor’s tenure.
According to Kingsley Fanwo, Kogi’s commissioner for information and communications, the former governor is “squeaky clean”.
He urged the EFCC to stop mentioning the former governor’s name in its “ongoing persecution,” and claimed that some political actors are out to destroy Bello.
Fanwo said:
“As a subnational in the Nigerian nationhood, we wish to express our utmost respect for agencies set up to perform specific functions towards the greatness of Nigeria.”
“The desperation of the EFCC to hastily and for glaring political reasons, hound the immediate past Governor on their corruption list is unfortunate and speaks volumes on how we reward altruistic leadership in our nation.
“For the records, we wish to make it clear that Kogi’s funds are not missing and that the EFCC is trying so hard to find what is not missing.
“We therefore call on the EFCC to desist from mentioning the name of Kogi State in its ongoing persecution, orchestrated by some political actors in and around the Presidency bent on destroying the image of Alh. Yahaya Bello and Kogi State.
“The amended charges in which the name of the former Governor was mentioned are false, frivolous, fictitious and far from the truth. They are cooked-up charges that signpost their desperation to call a dog a bad name to hang it.”