What was supposed to be a “soft landing” deal for Yahaya Bello, immediate-past governor of Kogi state, to end his protracted face-off with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) went bust at the car park of the anti-graft agency on Wednesday morning.
Usman Ododo, his successor, had negotiated a “soft landing” deal for Bello with some senior officials of the Tinubu administration — under which the former governor would return some state funds traced to him in exchange for a plea bargain, insiders told TheCable.
TheCable could not confirm the full terms of the negotiation, but the anti-graft agency was still expected to charge Bello to court regardless, even if for lesser offences.
Armed with what he thought was a sealed deal, Ododo brought Bello from Lokoja, the Kogi state capital where he had been in hiding for months, to Abuja on Tuesday, and accompanied him to the EFCC headquarters on Wednesday, insiders confirmed this .
Ododo used his status as a sitting governor to gain entrance into the EFCC premises without formalities, following which he announced that Bello had come to honour the invitation the commission sent to him after he left office in January 2024.
Ordinarily, this was supposed to end the saga, which had seen Nigerian authorities issue a Red Notice to Interpol after the former governor was declared wanted.
As it turned out, Ola Olukayode, the EFCC chairman, does not appear to be in on the deal.
When Ododo reached Michael Nzekwe, chief of staff to the EFCC chairman, on the phone to announce the arrival of Bello, he told the governor his boss was not around as the commission was not aware they were coming.
According to Insiders that Nzekwe asked them to leave, promising to get back to them as soon as the coast was clear.
By this time, Ohiare Michael, Bello’s aide, had issued a press statement announcing that his principal had “honoured the EFCC invitation”.
