Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), House of Representatives candidate for Dekina/Bassa Federal Constituency in the 2023 elections, Austin Okai, has slammed embattled former Kogi governor Yahaya Bello for preventing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from prosecuting him over alleged theft of N84bn from the coffers of the state.
Operatives of the EFCC on Wednesday barricaded the Abuja home of Bello.
The house of the former governor, who has been having a running battle with the EFCC before finishing his tenure as governor in January, is located on Benghazi Street in Wuse Zone 4, Federal Capital Territory.
The agency’s longtime interest in him led to the filing of N10 billion corruption charges against his nephew, Ali Bello, and a co-defendant for money laundering at the Federal High Court in Abuja.in 2022.
Days after he finished his tenure, the EFCC on 5 February, amended the charges, raising the number of counts from 10 to 17 against the younger Bello and his co-defendant, Dauda Suleiman, in a trial that dates back to 2022.
The prosecution named Bello in one of the newly-introduced counts as an accomplice. But the agency has yet to charge him as a defendant.
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