'The chairman is a lawyer' - EFCC refutes claims Yahaya Bello is being subjected to media trial

Following the controversy that has surrounded the arrest of Yahaya Bello, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has refuted claims its chairman has subjected the embattled Kogi State Governor to a media trial.

This comes after several political and social commentators including Daniel Bwala, the former spokesman for the defunct Atiku-Okowa Presidential Campaign Council and former Vice President of the ECOWAS Court of Justice, Prof. Nwoke Chijioke accused the antigraft agency of trying Bello in the media.

Ola Olukoyede in a press conference with select media editors on Tuesday, April 23 disclosed that Bello withdrew $720,000 from a government account to pay his child’s school fees.

He also indicated that the former governor after declining his offer to be interrogated in his office asked the EFCC to come over to his village to interrogate him.

The EFCC Chairman further vowed to resign if he fails to arrest Bello and follow through the investigation.

However, EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, said Olukoyede’s revelations did not violate any rule.

A statement by Oyewale said, “There is nothing the chairman said on Tuesday that was not already in the public domain.

“Also, we have filed our processes, and everything is before the court, so the chairman did not say anything that is not already in public domain.

“The chairman himself is a lawyer, and he knows his onions. Everything he said was within his rights as the Chief Executive Officer of the EFCC.”