EDITORIAL:
The hope is that the rule of law will prevail in the wake of the pronounced game of wits between the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and former Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi state.
The negative vibes that ensued with the back and forth brickbat over the move to arrest and prosecute Bello continues to put the matter on the front-burner of public discourse . While the EFCC is taking steps to arrest and prosecute Yahaya Bello, the former Kogi Governor is opposed to the stranglehold approach initiated by the anti -corruption agency. The Judiciary is thus put on trial through the use/abuse of court process as the world watches. Meanwhile, the twists and turns of the media trial before the matter gets to court has made the situation messier than expected.
Expectedly, the botched attempt by the EFCC to arrest Yahaya Bello in Abuja days back drew a lot of flak from the curious public. This is moreso from the drama than the need to do the needful when a case is in the offing. Primarily, in this instance, EFCC was seen as being overtly bent of picking up Bello, arrest warrant or not, while the resisting former governor insisted on due process because of an existing injunction restraining the anti-corruption agency from effecting the said arrest . And so the battle of wits and impunity took the centre stage
The media parley held by EFCC Chairman, Mr. Olanipekun Olukoyede during which he disclosed the 720,000- dollar school fees paid for Bello’s children at the American International School Abuja (AISA) was believed to be a nugget of evidence thrown to the public, ostensibly to justify the need for Bello to face trial. The EFCC emphasized that the payment was made just about the time the former Governor was to leave office. In another instance, he said the move to arrest the former governor was necessary since Bello had been evasive since he left office, hence the siege. He hinted that he even called the recalcitrant Bello to come through a back door when honouring the EFCC invitation but the former governor declined.
In the same breath , the EFFCC Chairman gave voice to his vow to ensure the prosecution of the former Kogi governor, at all cost, painted a picture seen by many as rather high-handed . While many saw Bello’s travails as the norm for former governors under probe, many, including the Coalition of Civil Society Organisations , the former Vice President of the ECOWAS Court of Justice, Professor Nwoke Friday Chijioke and veteran journalist Dele Momodu,, believed that the EFCC Chairman was a tad heavy-handed in his approach, in this instance.
Basically, the coalition of Civil Society Organisations was vehement in its condemnation of the ‘ media trial’ of Yahaya Bello by the EFCC, saying it was “grossly unprofessional and uncalled for. “Prof. Chijioke, the former ECOWAS Court of Justice Vice President, on a TV programme, criticized the EFCC approach and stressed the need for discretion in the conduct of investigations instead of conducting a media trial . ”An institution of justice should be in a position, especially when you are the investigator, carry out a discrete investigation. You do not need to involve the media. For example, the EFCC chairman’s interview was really, really uncalled for. It was uncalled for in the sense that you do not need to accord any privilege to Yahaya Bello. The law does not require giving of privileges to persons who are suspected of having committed an offense. Secondly, the law necessarily does not need, especially in situations of this nature. In corruption cases, you don’t necessarily need to make an arrest. You don’t need to bring into custody. Because more often than not, in corruption cases, they are determined by documentary evidence.If you make out a prima facie case and you have evidence to make out a prima facie case, why don’t you file a case in court and serve the accused person? Why would you, in the first instance, perhaps advertise or publicize? Because that is, in the first instance, unfair hearing.”
Dele Momodu on his part, reminded the EFCC boss of the fate that befell previous Chairmen of the anti-corruption agency who toed a similar approach in prosecuting the cases of former governors.|
The No Corruption Coalition, at a press conference in Lagos last Thursday, added its voice to the clamour for an end to impunity when it pointed out that no formal letter of invitation was extended to former Gov Bello before the onslaught on his Abuja residence, an indication that it was a move by the EFCC to humiliate him.
The Convener of the Coalition, Comrade Akintunde Adedeji said members of the coalition were not questioning the constitutional mandate of the EFCC to investigate and prosecute corruption matters but the way and manner the EFCC undertook its task showed something untoward. The list went on and the act of impunity became amplified.
Understandably, The Kogi state government said the desperation of the EFCC boss to convict Yahaya Bello by all means in the court of public opinion rather than in the law court, was a personal vendetta, and not a fight against corruption.
It added that Alhaji Yahaya Bello did not pay the fees of his children with monies from the coffers of the Kogi State Government, contrary to the misleading narratives by the EFCC, stressing that all the documents published online, in furtherance of its unrelenting persecution of the former Governor, are documents filed by lawyers in the suit instituted on behalf of Alhaji Yahaya Bello and others who paid fees for their wards under the Advance Fee Payment Agreement with AISA.
‘’We state that the payment of these fees and the legitimacy thereof is the subject matter of Charge No. FHC/CR/573/2022, filed by the EFCC since 15th December 2022 at the Federal High Court, Abuja. The charge is pending and the court has yet to make any finding or convicted anyone in respect of the said sum.
It is imperative to remind Mr. Olukoyede, who is a Lawyer, that once parties have submitted a dispute to the Court, they are to shun all actions and statements that may prejudice the hearing of the matter or the mind of the Court. Since the matter is subjudice, we say no more, we await the EFCC’s proof of the allegations in Court, which is the only venue where the proof of these allegations matter’’.
As things stand, the media trial is on while Nigerians wait with bated breath to see where the pendulum of justice will swing. Will the EFCC intensify efforts to enforce the arrest of Yahaya Bello or resort to the courts to seek other ways of prosecuting the matter? The nation waits