EFCC: Yahaya Bello A Glorified Thief, By Buhari Olanrewaju Ahmed

Many lives have been lost due to the selfishness of Nigerian politicians who have never considered the welfare of the people under their watch.

Nigeria is one of the most corrupt countries in the world, with absolutely nothing to write home about. Yet, the people who have access to the country’s treasury have mismanaged public funds. They feel untouchable due to the power they possess with the kind of money they have stolen.

Kogi is one of the poorest states in the country, despite being blessed with abundant mineral and human resources. It boasts over 20 out of about 28 mineral deposits in Nigeria. Despite the abundant resources in the state, thousands of graduates roam the streets without jobs.

One of the reasons why Kogi remains a poor and underdeveloped state is due to bad leadership, which has kept the state in darkness and decay. We’ve witnessed situations where oppressed people protested against the arrest of their oppressors because they were only given a small crumb of what was stolen from them.

The former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, who, when he was in power, turned himself into Idi Amin, is now running helter-skelter, trying to evade arrest by the EFCC over allegations of squandering over N80 billion of public funds.

Someone who deliberately impoverished the state and refused to pay salaries, failed to provide free education, good quality healthcare, and social amenities. This devil in human skin, in 2022, went ahead to purchase forms worth N100 million in order to contest for the 2023 presidency under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Recall how Yahaya Bello used an excavator to destroy a road leading to PDP Kogi Central Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s hometown, aiming to prevent her local government from accessing the distribution of election materials and undermine her chances of victory.

Meanwhile, Yahaya Bello himself has been breaching the peace of Kogi State during his time as governor. It is worth recalling that in 2019, the former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, went to Kogi to kneel down and beg the electorate to forgive Governor Yahaya Bello for the atrocities he committed and his inability to pay salaries.

Bello, who is now wanted by the EFCC, has been a beneficiary of one of the most violent elections any state has ever witnessed. While seeking his second tenure, Yahaya Bello ordered his henchmen to murder one of the PDP’s female leaders, Salome Obuh, who was burnt alive. He also threatened to dethrone the late traditional ruler of Ebiraland, Okene, HRM Ohinoyi Dr. Ado Ibrahim, for not showing up at an event where the former President, General Muhammadu Buhari, attended in Lokoja.

This glorified thief, Yahaya Bello, is a power-drunk young man who rose from grass to grace. He never expected to see himself as a governor because he never had the mandate of the people. Yet, he rendered the state economy comatose, mobilized thugs to descend on critics or opposition, and gave them a free hand to cause mayhem in the state.

Karma is inevitable. Bello, who claimed to be a white lion, is now scared of arrest by the EFCC. Someone who, during his reign, never knew that a day of reckoning like this would come, sent hoodlums to dehumanize two comrades for protesting against bad government in Kogi State.

The two comrades were sent to jail in Kabba without recourse to due process and were even denied access to their lawyers.

If Yahaya Bello had governed the state with transparency, accountability, and brought good governance to the people, he would have been like a king today, with many aspiring young people in the country seeing him as a role model. However, the reverse is the case, as we all know how he used his stooge, Ahmed Ododo, as his successor in order to evade prosecution.

Like Yahaya Bello, Ahmed Ododo followed suit, as we all witnessed a shameful scene where Governor Ododo abandoned his state affairs in order to travel to the Federal capital, Abuja, and engage in unprecedented acts. He purportedly utilized his shield of immunity to protect Bello and evade arrest by the EFCC.

This act is one of the most dangerous scenarios, wherein a sitting governor publicly abuses his office and disregards court orders. If people in authority, like Governor Ododo, can use their office to undermine the Nigerian judiciary system without facing the consequences of their actions, what will be the fate of ordinary citizens who attempt such acts?

EFCC should cease its media trials and refrain from seeking cheap sympathy. They are proficient at apprehending yahoo boys, yet numerous innocent citizens languish in jail for crimes they know nothing about.

If the EFCC can apprehend a yahoo boy in a minute, what stops them from arresting Yahaya Bello, who has no immunity whatsoever? Bello is just like an ordinary thief on the street whom security authorities can arrest at any time. Justice needs to be served irrespective of anyone involved in the looting of public or private funds belonging to the people.

Our judiciary system needs to be revamped to address situations where a glorified thief evades arrest or trial due to influence or feeling too powerful to be apprehended.

It is time for the Nigerian security agencies and anti-corruption agencies to stop prioritizing a glorified thief. There should be no discrimination in arresting and prosecuting a thief. A thief should be named as such regardless of their status in society.