Yahaya Bello, the immediate past governor of Kogi State, has vehemently denied allegations made by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that he evaded an invitation for interrogation on January 27 this year.
Reacting to the EFCC’s statement, Bello, through his media office, refuted the claims, labelling them as “blatant lies” and challenging the agency to produce evidence of the invitation letter.
In a statement released on Tuesday, signed by Ohiare Michael on behalf of Bello’s media office, the former governor maintained that he had not received any formal invitation from the EFCC and called into question the credibility of the agency’s claims.
It read, “Our attention has been drawn to a publication/press statement with the above title, issued by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday, 22nd April 2024, and signed by Wilson Uwujaren, its Acting Director of Public Affairs.”
“In the said statement, which the Commission carefully circulated widely as usual, Mr. Uwujaren, who we have to believe is not a lawyer, continues the EFCC’s ongoing unconscionable lies against the former Governor of Kogi State, His Excellency, Yahaya Bello, CON, by labelling him as a fugitive from justice to disingenuously justify their established and willful pattern of defying lawful court orders.”
“Contrary to Mr. Uwujaren’s claims, official records and court documents relating to their hounding of Alhaji Yahaya Bello establish a clear timeline of events. These documents are endorsed with dates and times of filing and payments, which are endorsed on court processes – all of which testify to the true sequence of events.”
Meanwhile, the Federal High Court in Abuja has scheduled May 10 for the ruling on an application filed by the former Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, seeking to nullify the arrest warrant issued against him on April 17.
As reported by Newsmen, Justice Emeka Nwite fixed the date after both the counsel for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, and Bello’s lawyer, Adeola Adedipe, SAN, presented their arguments during the court proceedings.
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