Headlines

Anti-graft war turns Nollywood drama as EFCC goes after Yahaya Bello

Published

2 weeks ago

24 April 2024

Anti-graft war turns Nollywood drama as EFCC goes after Yahaya Bello

Deborah Tolu-Kolawole writes on ex-Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello’s street altercation with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission operatives and how it has divided Nigerians

In the past few days, the nation has been riveted by the altercation between the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and ex-Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello. The incident, which occurred at his residence on Benghazi Street, Wuse Zone 4, Abuja, was like a Nollywood thriller with the security operatives and Bello making strategic moves to outwit each other.

Bello, who handed over power to his successor a few months ago, has been going from Lokoja to Abuja and from one court to another in a bid to evade arrest and prosecution for allegedly laundering N80bn.

In a 19-count charge filed before Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja, the EFCC accused Bello of conspiring with Ali Bello, Dauda Suleiman and Abdusalam Hudu to convert over N80b belonging to Kogi State to their personal use.

Bello’s refusal to honour the EFCC’s summons has called to question his perceived political bravery which earned him the sobriquet ‘white lion.’ This has also made him the butt of jokes on social media with many Nigerians puzzled by his actions.

Long before he concluded his eight-year tenure in office, his critics had predicted that the 48-year-old might be arrested by the EFCC and also face trial, citing the ongoing prosecution of his wife, Rashidat and her nephew, Ali Bello, before the Federal High Court, Abuja, for misappropriation and money laundering to the tune of N3,081,804,654.

The accused persons were charged to court on February 8, 2023, but Rashidat has reportedly not appeared in court to date.

Following his alleged refusal to honour the commission’s summons and having reportedly tracked him to his Abuja residence, hordes of EFCC operatives on April 18 besieged Benghazi Street, Wuse, to apprehend Bello, sealing up the area like a Nazi concentration camp.

However, their efforts failed as the former governor refused to give himself up. His successor, Governor Usman Ododo, who visited his residence was believed to have smuggled him out of his residence in his tinted car and took him to the Government House in Lokoja.

Miffed by the development, the EFCC declared its quarry wanted, opening up a flurry of angry responses from his lawyer and some civil society groups who decried the anti-graft agency’s mode of operation.

In a public notice posted on its official Facebook page last Thursday, the EFFC stated, “The public is hereby notified that Yahaya Adoza Bello (former Governor of Kogi State), whose photograph appears above, is wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in connection with an alleged case of Money Laundering to the tune of N80,246,470,089.88

“Bello, a 48-year-old Ebira man, is a native of the Okenne Local Government of Kogi State. His last known address is: 9, Benghazi Street, Wuse Zone 4, Abuja.”

The notice asked anybody with useful information about the former governor’s whereabouts to contact any of the commission’s offices across the country.

To prevent the fugitive from leaving the country, the Nigeria Immigration Service has ordered that his passport be put on the watchlist at all the nation’s airports.

In a statement by its spokesman, Dele Oyewale, the EFCC frowned on the obstruction of its operatives while carrying out their lawful duties.

Oyewale noted that culprits were liable to a jail term of not less than five years.

But Bello through his media office called on the EFCC to obey a subsisting court order and desist from hounding the former governor.

The media office in a statement disclosed that the EFCC had been served with the court order dated February 9, 2024, restraining it from arresting Bello pending the hearing and determination of the substantive fundamental rights enforcement action.

The injunction, it said, was granted by the High Court of Justice, Lokoja Division in suit no. HCL/68M/2024 between Alhaji Yahaya Bello vs EFCC.

The statement read, “The EFCC was duly served with that order on February 12, 2024 and on February 26, 2024, the EFCC filed an appeal (Appeal No. CA/ABJ/CV/175/2024: EFCC vs Yahaya Bello) against the said order to the Court of Appeal, Abuja division.

“The appeal was accompanied by a Motion for Stay of Execution of the order of the High Court which the Court of Appeal adjourned for hearing till April 22, 2024.

“Furthermore, judgment in the substantive case between Alhaji Yahaya Bello and the EFCC is to be delivered at noon today in Lokoja. Contrary to all of the above, the EFCC has now laid siege to the home of H.E Yahaya Bello seeking to arrest him in contravention of the extant orders.”

But the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, in a statement released shortly after the EFCC besieged Bello’s house, advised individuals invited by the EFCC to toe the path of decency by honouring the invitation of the commission.

He condemned in strong terms the trend where citizens ganged up to obstruct officials of the EFCC while on lawful duty.

Fagbemi said, “The bizarre drama confronting the EFCC in the course of its efforts to perform its statutory duty has come to my notice as a matter of very grave concern.

“It is now beyond doubt that the EFCC is given power by the law to invite any person of interest to interact with them in the course of their investigation into any matter regardless of status.’’

But defending his client’s action, Mohammed explained that the ex-governor had on February 9 secured an order from a Kogi State High Court, restraining the EFCC from inviting, arresting or prosecuting him over the subject matter of the instant charge against him.

He added that the EFCC had appealed against the order which was still pending.

Addressing Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja, who was meant to preside over the money laundering charge slammed against the ex-governor during the proceeding last Thursday, Mohammed said his client had already filed a preliminary objection to challenge the legal propriety of his planned arraignment and trial.

The arraignment of the ex-governor could not go on as he did not show up in court.

Mohammed noted, “What they are trying to do is to bring this court in collision with the Court of Appeal by rushing to this court to obtain an ex parte warrant of arrest for someone that is already a defendant.

“Our position is that this court has no jurisdiction to do any other thing than to take our motion challenging its jurisdiction to entertain this charge.’’

Bello’s lawyer urged Nwite to vacate the arrest warrant issued against his client, insisting that the court was misled.

Speaking earlier, the prosecuting counsel for the EFCC, Kemi Pinheiro (SAN), threatened that the anti-graft agency might enlist the help of the military to arrest and bring Bello before the court for his arraignment.

He said, “My Lord, what happened yesterday (Wednesday) was that a person with immunity came to whisk the defendant away. But what they forgot was that immunity does not attach to a building, but to an individual.

“However, we know what to do. If it will take inviting the military to bring him (Bello) here, we will do that because section 287 of the Constitution cannot be ridiculed.

“If he wants to play games, we will show him that the constitution is above every individual and you cannot fight the constitution.

“A former president of the United States was charged to court and he has been appearing for his trial. He did not file all sorts of things to frustrate the case.’’

However, some civil society organisations believed the EFCC went overboard and cautioned it to obey the rule of law.

Addressing a press conference in Lagos, the CSOs and human rights crusaders cautioned the EFCC and other anti-graft agencies against trampling on the rights of supposed suspects of corruption to avoid breaking a law to enforce another law.

The Executive Chairman of the Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, Debo Adeniran, noted that the public face-off between the EFCC and the ex-Kogi state governor was “both unnecessary and unfortunate.”

Adeniran argued that the rush by the EFCC to make an arrest when the Court of Appeal hearing on its application to vacate the restraining order was just in a few days might lend credence to the allegations of political persecution.’’

Also in Abuja, a coalition of CSOs led by the Anti-Corruption and Research-based Data Initiative, accused the EFCC of ‘’not presenting its case against Bello properly.’’

Speaking at a media briefing, the ARDI publicity director, Nwabueze Anyanwu, cautioned the commission not to heat the polity ‘’in its desperation to apprehend former Kogi Governor, Yahaya Bello, over an allegation of money laundering.’’

He said, “The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has not extended to Mr Bello the customary investigation to visit her offices to assist her in their investigations. We could also not find evidence anywhere, no matter how remote, where the Commission has asserted that she did extend such an invitation to him.

But unruffled by the support for Bello, Olukoyede has vowed to prosecute the ex-governor, noting that a global arrest warrant had been placed on him.

Speaking with editors and bureau chiefs in Abuja, the EFCC boss narrated how Bello spurned his invitation, adding that he could have been arrested since January.

Olukoyede said, “I called Yahaya Bello, as a serving governor, to come to my office to clear himself. I shouldn’t have done that. But he said because a certain senator had planted over 100 journalists in my office, he would not come.

“I told him that he would be allowed to use my private gate to give him a cover, but he said my men should come to his village to interrogate him.”

Olukoyede noted that the EFCC did not violate any law while trying to arrest the former governor from his residence.

“Rather, we have obeyed the law. I inherited the case and I didn’t create it. Why has he not submitted himself to the law?” he asked.

It remains to be seen if Bello would take up Olukoyede’s challenge and submit himself to the courts where he has the opportunity to clear himself of the charges against him.

Headlines

NNPC, marketers in war of words over fuel scarcity

Published

3 days ago

4 May 2024

Agency News

NNPC, marketers in war of words over fuel scarcity

The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation has blamed the lingering fuel scarcity in the country on panic buying and sharp practices by some petroleum marketers who are exploiting the present situation to make more money.

The company also vowed that the fuel queues across the country would end next week, noting that it had enough litres of fuel to end the scarcity.

Petroleum marketers, however, disagreed with the position of the NNPC, insisting that inadequate supply was a major reason for the persisting fuel scarcity.

Recall that on Tuesday, the NNPC spokesperson, Femi Soneye, assured that the ongoing shortage in supply of petroleum products and queues for the products would be cleared by May 1.

According to him, the company had more than 1.5 billion litres of petroleum products available, enough to last for at least 30 days. He added that some individuals might be exploiting the situation to maximise profit.

The Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria had in a statement said its members in Apapa and other locations in Lagos had received 300 million litres of fuel from eight vessels this week.

This was after the South-West Regional Coordinator of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Ayo Cardoso, also confirmed to The PUNCH that aside from the 240 million litres offloaded at various depots on Monday, close to 85 million litres of petrol was offloaded as of Tuesday evening.

Cardoso stated that the government was doing its best to ensure massive distribution of PMS, adding that the product would soon be available across the country.

According to him, each state of the federation had its allocations, saying the same will be delivered to reduce the queues at filling stations.

“As I said earlier, there will be enough fuel across Nigeria soon. We have received over 300 million litres as of Tuesday. More have arrived as we speak, but I can’t give you the figure. Vessels will keep arriving in Nigeria for 15 days, which started counting on Monday, and we will keep distributing the product across the nation.

“The masses should not panic; all these will soon vanish. We are not prioritising anywhere, each state has its allocation to be delivered accordingly,” Cardoso stated.

In the last few days, the queues and shortage of petroleum products worsened the living conditions of most Nigerians as they struggled to get the product.

Roads were deserted while some individuals parked their vehicles at various filling stations pending the availability of petrol.

Hoarding of the product had also been on the increase, as some took advantage of the situation.

Concerned, the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream and Midstream) called on security agencies to pick up hoarders of PMS.

Speaking with Saturday PUNCH, the spokesperson of NNPC, Olufemi Soneye, explained that the oil firm currently had about three billion litres of petrol, as he blamed oil marketers and panic buying for the lingering queues.

“The queues are clearing. They won’t just clear like that, because people are trying to hoard, while others are buying what they don’t need. That is why we keep saying there is enough product; there is no need to buy what you don’t need.

“Also, you can’t exclude the marketers in this, as they want to use this opportunity to make more money. These are the issues, which is why we have involved the NMDPRA, because it is their duty to ensure that the right thing is done by these filling stations.

“Our job is to provide the product and we’ve told you that we have over 1.5 billion litres available. So, the NMDPRA should please do something about the distribution. It is not our job. We are not the regulator, and we don’t have power to sanction the filling stations that are not doing what they are supposed to do.”

Soneye said the NNPC had increased the volume of petrol in Nigeria and insisted that distribution by marketers was now the concern.

Stop blaming us for scarcity – Marketers to NNPC

Marketers under the aegis of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria have, however, told the NNPC not to blame them for the queues in filling stations, saying they were not involved in sharp practices.

The National Vice President of IPMAN, Hammed Fashola, wondered how the NNPC could shift the blame to marketers, who were not the importers of petrol.

Fashola said marketers could only hoard an available product, recalling how IPMAN had assisted in clearing off the queues in filling stations.

“That is far from the truth. You can only divert the product that you have. You don’t divert what you don’t have.

“On the issue of pricing, we are in a regime of partial deregulation. If you noticed, even before this crisis, we had different prices everywhere. That is another issue that cannot stand.

“On the issue of hoarding, you cannot hoard what you don’t have. It is not even making sense when you have fuel at this critical period, then you say you want to hoard it. So, that is not true too,” he said.

Asked if the marketers were now getting the product from the NNPC, the IPMAN leader said, “Let me use this opportunity to commend the NNPC, despite the fact that they want to put the blame on us. I think they’re trying their best to put the situation under control”.

Fashola added that independent marketers did not engage in sharp practices.

“We have already set up a task force within the IPMAN to make sure our people play according to the rules and regulations. We are a very disciplined organisation. We don’t do any sharp practices; we don’t condone that.

“If you remember, last week they told us it was a logistic problem, and we know what that means. So, why are they blaming marketers for the scarcity? We are not the importer, we are not in charge of shipment; we are not their clearing agent. We don’t even own our own depot. So, how can they blame us for that?” he asked.

Also responding to the NNPC’s allegations, the National Public Relations Officer of IPMAN, Chinedu Ukadike, debunked claims that the oil marketers were responsible for the persistent fuel scarcity.

Ukadike, speaking in a telephone interview on Friday night, stated that marketers established their businesses solely for profit and returns on investment, and would not create artificial scarcity, adding that the heavy capital and incurred bank charges did not allow for hoarding of the petroleum product.

He said, “We are the last in the distribution chain of supply. We break the box of NNPC, and as I am talking to you, IPMAN has over 20,000 filling stations scattered in the nooks and crannies of this country. We established our businesses to be able to maximise profit and have a return on investment.

“There is no sharp practice at all. Anytime there is inadequate supply of petroleum products, you would find out that independent marketers advertise and even go as far as washing vehicles’ tyres and windscreens and instructing our pump attendants to sell petroleum products, because we believe in turnover. The kind of money we are using to buy products, around N40m, is too huge for someone to hoard. We even incur bank charges.

“There is no way we can hoard products. Once they are given to us, we sell them as quickly as possible.

He added, “We are ready to sell for 24 hours if security is provided for us and financial support is also given to us. As an official, I can tell you that we are not involved in any sharp practice. Once petroleum gets to us, we will sell to consumers, because we interface with them and we know how it feels when product is scarce.”

The official further called on security agencies to wade off street urchins profiteering from the scarcity.

“I won’t also say that there are no people, such as street urchins, who take advantage of the situation to engage in sharp practices, using their vehicles to buy petroleum product and then distribute to jerry cans for profiteering. We are aware of those issues, and the national president of IPMAN has advised that marketers should involve security agencies to wade off all those persons standing in front of their filling stations.”

Also speaking to Saturday PUNCH, the Executive Secretary of the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria, Clement Isong, said even though sharp practices existed within the oil sector, it should not be blamed majorly for the fuel scarcity in the country.

He said, “There are many reasons. I don’t doubt that some sharp practices are going on, but it is too simplistic to say that is the cause of the scarcity. So, I don’t believe that they (NNPCL) will say that.”

“I do not believe they said so. I do not doubt that there may be some sharp practices here and there, but I do not believe the NNPCL would say so.”

Explaining the cause of the scarcity, he said, “I have said it is logistic challenges. There are many other problems, but the immediate cause can be classified under logistic challenges.”

To solve the prevailing fuel scarcity, he said the government should “flood the markets with the products.”

“If you wake up and they say there is no product in Nigeria, then you can call or hold NNPC responsible. But now, the custodian of the stock is the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, and they have not said that we don’t have products. When Nigerians should hold us responsible is when there is no product. But, there is product in excess.

“The 1.5 billion litres we said about four days ago has increased, because we’ve added more vessels and we are going to make almost three billion litres available. So, distribution should be looked into by the NMDPRA.

“When the regulator sanctions some stations, it will make others sit up and do the right thing. But, as NNPC, we don’t have the power to sanction any station,” Soneye stated.