The Kogi government says funds belonging to the state did
not go missing under Yahaya Bello, its immediate past governor.
On Thursday, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) named Bello in an amended charge filed against Alli Bello.
Alli, chief of staff to Usman Ododo, current governor of the
state, and one Daudu Suleiman, are the two defendants in the 17-count amended
charge.
The EFCC alleged that the suspects diverted about N100
billion belonging to the state in September 2015 — about four months before
Bello assumed office as governor.
Reacting in a statement on Friday, Kingsley Fanwo, Kogi
commissioner for information and communications, said the former governor is
squeaky clean.
He also called on the EFCC to desist from mentioning the
former governor’s name in its “ongoing persecution”, adding that some political
actors are bent on destroying Bello.
“As a subnational in the Nigerian nationhood, we wish to
express our utmost respect for agencies set up to perform specific functions
towards the greatness of Nigeria,” the statement reads.
“The desperation of
the EFCC to hastily and for glaring political reasons, hound the immediate past
Governor on their corruption list is unfortunate and speaks volume on how we
reward altruistic leadership in our nation.
“For the records, we wish to make it clear that Kogi’s funds
are not missing and that the EFCC is trying so hard to find what is not
missing.
“We therefore call on the EFCC to desist from mentioning the
name of Kogi State in its ongoing persecution, orchestrated by some political
actors in and around the Presidency bent on destroying the image of Alh. Yahaya
Bello and Kogi State.
“The amended charges in which the name of the former
Governor was mentioned are false, frivolous, fictitious and far from the truth.
They are cooked-up charges that signpost their desperation to call a dog a bad
name in order to hang it.
“The intention was to
sensationalize the whole scenario and promote a media war against the former
Governor and other officials of Government.”
‘TINUBU SHOULD WADE
IN’
The Kogi government also called on President Bola Tinubu to
order a special probe into the matter.
It added that it will continue to support the
anti-corruption crusade of the federal government
“The Kogi State
Government wishes to call on Mr President to order a special probe into what is
happening in Kogi State before the EFCC is pushed into being used as a hired
gun by political hawks who are acting a selfish and overambitious script,” the
statement added.
“As a Government, we will continue to support the
anti-corruption crusade of the Federal Government, howbeit, such crusade should
be based on the rule of law, purity of conscience and devoid of political
scheming.
“We cannot afford to
politicize our fight against corruption. We will continue to have faith in the
judiciary to protect our name and integrity.
“Those who have personal grievances can vent their
grievances without dragging the name of Kogi State in the mud. Our Government
believes in transparency, accountability and probity in line with the trend
from 2016.
“We also wish to
assure the good people of our State that nothing will be spared to protect the
integrity of our Government.
“Our administration will continue to act in a way that
Kogites will be respected wherever they go and for us to retain the respect of
our international development partners who have persistently commended our
anti-corruption credentials.”
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