Kogi Berets EFCC’s Media Trial CBN’s Disregard for Rule of Law

Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State on Wednesday called on President Muhammadu Buhari to call the leaderships of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC and the Central Bank of Nigeria to order “before they throw this country into a huge crisis with their disdain for the rule of law.”

Speaking with journalists in Ilorin on Wednesday, the Kogi state commissioner for Information and Communication, Kingsely Fanwo, stressed that, “As a Government, Kogi State will continue to resort to constitutionally provided mechanisms in resolving disagreements. We shall never encourage violence.”

In his words, “The forces against Tinubu know that he is going to win the February 25th presidential election in all the geo-political zones. That is why they are against him. What they have resorted to right now is to enunciate draconian and anti- people policies to provoke Nigerians into insurrection and civil disobedience. When that happens, God forbids, nobody will be talking about elections again.

“Now, we buy Naira as we buy Dollar. Today to get N5, 000 you had to pay a N1,000 or more for the currency you spend in your own country. If some people in the urban centres can afford that, how about those in the villages?”.

“EFCC Chair, Abdulahi Bawa, and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Emefiele are clearly destroying the integrity of Mr. President. We make bold to say that no amount of intimidation will stop the governor from supporting and mobilizing support for the candidature of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the next President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“The recent despairing attempt to embarrass and intimidate some Kogi State Government officials and persons related to the governor is nothing but the classic naked dance of a hen whose anus has been unfurled by the wind of truth. While we might not dwell on the matter like the EFCC is doing right now because of our own respect for the judiciary, we make bold to say that monies belonging to the State Government are not missing. Like the ‘missing’ or ‘fixed’ 20 billion Naira Bailout Loan, the recent attempt is a political tool to silence the governor and distract him from the task of garnering support for the election of the APC presidential candidate, Sentor Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“At the same press briefing, the governors that went to court were tagged to have ‘shifted allegiance from the President to someone who is yet to become President’, with severe attacks on the governor of Kogi State and the haste at using the media to convict and condemn him when no law court has found him guilty.

“We are not unaware of a high-level conspiracy to gag more voices on the side of the party in power. But we shall continue to fight injustice and discrimination across the country. Bawa and Emefiele cannot stop the political victory ahead.

“We call on the President to call Bawa and Emefiele to order before they throw this country into a huge crisis with their disdain for the rule of law. As a government, Kogi State will continue to resort to constitutionally provided mechanisms in resolving disagreements. We shall never encourage violence.  Now that Nigerians know why they are after Governor Yahaya Bello, we must toe the line of the rule of law to avert a crisis.

“We call on Nigerians to remain steadfast in the build-up to the February 25, 2023 polls. Nigerians will only triumph if we refuse to allow the current confusion and provocation to dampen our spirit for continued progressive leadership. We must show the EFCC, the CBN and their collaborators that the collective resolve of our people is bigger than their antics”.