Photo of Yahaya Bello jumping over a fence to evade arrest by the EFCC fact-checked

An image shared by a Facebook user, Onyukwu Oge Idika, showing the moment the embattled Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello jumped the fence to evade arrest by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on charges of money laundering has been dismissed after a fact-check.

The photo has since generated mixed reactions and has been republished by social media users who make the same allegation.

Yahaya Bello has been in the news since he was declared wanted by the anti-graft agency on charges of money laundering.

Africa Check, a fact-checking organization, verified the picture and established the facts of the matter.

Google's reverse image search revealed that the altered and viral photo is actually of Usman Cheche.

Cheche was a former member of the House of Representatives representing the Bida-Gbako-Katcha federal constituency of Niger state in the national assembly between 2011 and 2015.

The incident occurred in 2014 when some lawmakers at the national assembly, including Cheche, climbed the assembly gate after the police denied them entry.

Therefore, the face of former governor Yahaya Bello was superimposed on the original photo of Cheche. The EFCC declared Bello a wanted person on Thursday, April 18.

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and the Department of State Service (DSS) have also placed the former governor on their watchlist.

Meanwhile, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Jesutega Onokpasa, has alleged that some appointees of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu are behind the current ordeal of Yahaya Bello and his Kaduna State counterpart, Malam Nasir el-Rufai.

He also alleged that these appointees are plotting to succeed Tinubu before the end of his tenure and are seriously hoping that he will not make it to 2027 for their