Chairman of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has revealed that a former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, transferred $720,000 from the government’s coffers to a bureau de change (BDC) before leaving office to pay his child’s school fee in advance.
Olukoyede revealed this during an interview with journalists on Tuesday in Abuja.
He said: “A sitting governor, because he knows he is going, moved money directly from government to bureau de change, used it to pay the child’s school fee in advance, $720,000 in advance, in anticipation that he was going to leave the Government House.
“In a poor state like Kogi, and you want me to close my eyes to that under the guise of ‘I’m being used.’ Being used by who at this stage of my life?”
“I didn’t initiate the case; I inherited the case file. I called for the file, and I said there are issues here.
“On my own, I called him, which I am not supposed to do, just to honour him as an immediate past governor. ‘Sir, there are issues. I’ve seen this case file. Can you just come let us clarify these issues?’
“He said, ‘Ha! Thank you, my brother. I know, but I can’t come. There’s one lady that has surrounded EFCC with over 100 people to come and embarrass me and intimitade me.’
“I said if that is the issue, I’m going to pass you through my own gate, and you will come to my floor. We will accord you that respect. I will invite my operatives; they will interrogate and interview you in my own office. What could be more honourable than that to allay the fear?
“You know what he said: ‘Thank you, sir, but can’t they come to my village?
“I’m so passionate about the need for us to move forward in this country. We need the EFCC to survive. There are so many victims that we have wiped tears off their eyes, people that have been swindled in their millions. Every day, we keep recovering money for victims.”
See Olukoyede’s video interview below:
The Chairman of EFCC, Ola Olukoyede has said the embattled former governor of Kogi ,Yahaya Bello, withdrew $720,000 from the government account to a Bureau de Change to pay for his child’s school fees in advance #CTVTweets pic.twitter.com/oG0KvisWQ7
— Channels Television (@channelstv) April 23, 2024
Video: Channels TV, X