September 25: Yahaya Bello’s new opportunity to surrender

BY NICHOLAS OLUKA

Former Kogi state governor Yahaya Bello’s theatrics and calculated moves to impress the public last week about his resolve to honour the invitation of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) are still fresh in our memory.

First, the former governor, who had loudly denied being invited by the EFCC over an alleged N80.2 billion money laundering offence, recanted and stormed the premises of the anti-graft agency in a cavalier manner. His swash-buckling approach to criminal summons by the EFCC shows a total lack of discretion and good judgment.

How can a fugitive appear in public for the first time after being declared wanted with such impunity? That the EFCC chairman, Ola Olukoyede, turned down his surrender game plan shows that the EFCC is a serious, professional anti-corruption agency that would not compromise its operational principles, even for a wanted suspect.

Secondly, Yahaya Bello’s refusal of arrest by the same agency he visited with his retinue of aides and media propaganda showed that he was not ready to comply with the rule of law he earlier alluded to. In a statement circulated widely in the media on the day the former governor brazenly visited the corporate headquarters of the EFCC, his media aide, Ohiare Michael stated that “the former governor has great respect for the rule of law and constituted authority”.

Where is that respect when he unleashed terror and violence on officers of the EFCC who went after him the same day he announced to the world he was ready to honour the invitation of the commission? Those accusing the EFCC and its chairman of insincerity and incompetence can now see through the gimmick of Bello and his spin doctors.

The truth of the matter is that the EFCC acted rightly, wisely and professionally by not allowing Yahaya Bello to compromise its operational codes. There are certainly some backend facts that may not be known to the public on why he was not taken into custody. Ordinary logic and street wisdom would make every Nigerian expect the EFCC to clamp the former governor into detention but when such a scenario did not occur, there certainly remains unknown facts, information or intelligence foreclosing the expectation of the public.

The EFCC is an intelligence-driven anti-graft agency. Its modus operandi cannot be expected to conform to public surmises all the time. There are issues that may not lend themselves to ordinary analysis. Nigerians’ obligation to the Commission is to continue to trust its judgment and offer it unalloyed support all the time.

The public hysteria about Bello’s escape (?) from detention is not unconnected with the handling of the resources of Kogi state while he was the chief executive of the state. The public is not really angry with the EFCC, it is angry that Bello’s date with condign punishment is being shifted. The anger is also derived from the fact that, having ignored the invitation to answer all the charges preferred against him, his first appearance in public should have been met with fire and brimstone but the EFCC does not operate that way.

Our elders say that whenever the tongue refuses to take food into the stomach, it is either the food does not taste well or there is an unsettled quarrel between the tongue and the stomach. In this respect, I think Bello seems not to have acquitted himself well for his surrender offer to be so spurned by the EFCC.

So, what other option is left for the embattled governor? Simple! He should show up in court on Wednesday! The cat-and-mouse game he has played with the court should end. By showing up to his plea before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja, Bello may just be lucky enough to be admitted to bail on the conditions of the court and end the long wait that has pitied him against the EFCC and the judiciary.

It is needful to state that this new opportunity will offer the ex-governor a new window of redemption from all the aggravated injury he has brought upon himself. Bello should heed the voice of reason and bow to the judiciary as his last route of surrender.

Oluka, a public affairs analyst, contributes this piece from Enugu