EFCC versus Yahaya Bello: Victim or villain?

By Bola BOLAWOLE

turnpot@gmail.com 0807 552 5533

The face-off between the anti-corruption agency – the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) – and the immediate past civilian governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Adoza Bello, is a sad reminder of how weak and easily manipulated institutions are here. It also showcases the crawling stage of our democratic  governance. The ongoing Fourth Republic is the longest stretch of civilian rule we have had since our flag Independence from the British colonial predators on October 1, 1960; which 64th anniversary was marked yesterday.

The creation of the EFCC and its sister-organisation, the Independent Corrupt Practices (and related offences) Commission (ICPC) by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration has been the closest the country came to affirming its desire to fight corruption. The agencies, however, have not been given a free hand to operate, for those of their leadership minded to do so, even if half-heartedly, while others have willingly surrendered their independence, even when it is advertised on billboards, considering it their duty to be loyal and obedient beyond even the point of being subservient to the powers-that-be. He who pays the piper, we have been told, dictates the tune!

Yayaha Bello, on the other hand, is a man who ought to go to bed every day humbled and filled with awe when he remembers how he became the governor of Kogi state. He should, non-stop, marvel at the omnipotence of God. While in office, his commitment ought to have been to make use of the uncommon opportunity he had not to let God down. And to serve the people of Kogi with uncommon devotion and commitment to the duty of delivering unto them the dividends of democracy. He lost the APC ticket to Audu Abubakar and walked away.

Audu went on with the contest and almost won the election before he died suddenly and INEC declared the election inconclusive. Everyone had thought James Faleke, Audu’s running mate, was the undisputed and rightful person to inherit the ticket but APC and the court thought otherwise. The APC flag was handed over to Yahaya Bello. The rest, as they say, is history. The only other political abracadabra that surpassed this one was that of Imo state where Hope Odikaka Uzodinma who came fourth in a governorship election was declared the winner by the Supreme Court!

Yahaya Bello’s was a call to duty and public service; not self-service. It was a golden opportunity to justify Nicollo Machieavelli’s assertion that the end justifies the means. Has Yahaya Bello ever heard of the Florentine (Italian) diplomat, Niccolo di Bernado dei Machiavelli or of his seminal work, “The Prince”? I have a copy. To some, Yahaya Bello’s tenure qualifies as paradise lost, which may be difficult, if not impossible, to regain; apologies, John Milton. I have a copy of Milton’s Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained.

While he reigned majestically, I received numerous SOS from Kogites pleading with me to say something on Yahaya Bello. One bad news after another trailed the man for the eight years that he held sway. Somehow, I decided to remain aloof, convinced it was better to wait at the end of the road with a lot of “may be” running riots in my mind! Everything that has a beginning must surely have an end. In this I had the admonition of Grandma: What is rumbling in the forest is coming to the mainroad; wait for it there!

And I also remembered the story of Solon, the Athenian statesman, lawmaker, political philosopher and poet; especially his encounter with Croesus, a fabulously wealthy king of Lydia, an ancient kingdom in what is now Turkey. Croesus, in his majestic splendor, had thought himself the happiest man on earth and needed Solon, reputed as the wisest man of his time, to further confirm it. It will amount to an understatement to say Croesus was flabbergasted when Solon sorely disappointed him!

Has Yahaya Bello ever heard of Solon and Croesus or  has he read Herodotus’s “Histories”, which records the story? I have a copy. After Croesus had taken his time to elaborately intimidate Solon with his wealth, he asked the philosopher who he thought was the happiest man on earth. The philosopher mentioned three names, giving reasons, but Croesus was not one of them.

Disappointed, Croseus sent Solon away empty-handed but before he departed, Solon told the arrogant but perplexed king: “You seem to be rich beyond comprehension, and I am sure that, at this moment, no man can fulfill more of his fantasies than you can in the whole wide world. However, I have seen people just as rich as you die more disgraceful deaths than the commonest and poorest of all men! Because, Croseus, man is entirely a chance, and nobody knows what the gods may bring tomorrow? You should count no man happy until he dies”

Tell me, what can be more disgraceful than “Emperor” Yahaya Bello hiding beneath the tunic of his protege, Gov. Ahmed Usman Ododo, or running and hiding from the EFCC? I could never have imagined seeing Yahaya Bello in that hole! Remember the hole from which the Americans picked up the unkempt Iraqi strongman, Saddam Hussien? O, how hitherto strongmen become jelly when small trouble comes calling! Remember Libyan strongman, Moumar Gaddaffi, timidly begging for his life when he was cornered?

Not long after Croseus had contemptuously sent Solon away, war broke out between him and the Persian king, Cyrus. Croseus was defeated and captured and a great fire made to burn him alive; at that moment he remembered Solon and cried out: “O, Solon, you true seer! O Solon, Solon!” Yes,  count no governor or president lucky – nay, strong – until he leaves office and can still hold his head high among his people!   

Why did Yayaha Bello not have the presence of mind to do exactly what the ex-governor of Ekiti state, Ayo Fayose, did? I felt ashamed to see Gov. Ododo strut side-by-side with Yahaya Bello, offering him a protection that is least deserved; that is least needed. And which pretentious Ododo cannot even give. The EFCC declared Fayose wanted while he was still a sitting governor; went ahead to make up stories that the governor had made arrangements to flee the country before his tenure elapsed. A (fake) flight ticket to a foreign country was even published to that effect!

Fayose countered the EFCC, saying he would not run but present himself by himself, as they say! Days before his tenure elapsed, Fayose printed T-shirts and Face caps with the inscription: “EFCC, here I come” boldly inscribed on them. Fayose took himself to the EFCC office in Abuja. I was there! Only his lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, and his friend, the then Gov. Nyesom Wike of Rivers State (now the FCT Minister), were allowed to go inside the EFCC fortress with Fayose.

The EFCC later charged Fayose to court and the former governor was in custody at the Ikoyi prison for a while. I visited him there. After that, he was hauled before a female high court judge in Ikoyi, Lagos. I attended court with him on many occasions. The judge was almost through with the case when the EFCC withdrew the case and went in search of another judge. Fayose’s act is gallantry; Yayaha Bello’s is cowardice. And it is a great disappointment! Despite Yahaya Bello’s “ta-ta-ta-ta-ta”!

Back to EFCC: Tortoise had persistently stolen yams from his in-law’s farm; a trap was set, which caught Tortoise. Has it not been said that every day is for the thief but one day for the owner? In-law tied up Tortoise on the road to the marketplace. Upon enquiry, everyone rained curses on the thief. But on their way back from the market in the evening and Tortoise was still tied up, they turned on In-law: “Do you want to kill him? After all, did Yannibo your daughter not eat out of the yams he stole?”

EFCC has been selective in the way it prosecutes the war against corruption. Only enemies of the powers-that-be get harassed while friends enjoy immunity from prosecution. That hurts the integrity of both the government and EFCC. Lawyers have accused the EFCC of forum shopping; that is, searching for pliable, compromised or frightened judges that would do its bidding. It has also been accused of flying allegations and making arrests before searching for evidence. Its treatment of “friends” is said to be remarkably different from what it dishes out to “foes”.

Let us assume, then, that these fears informed Yayaha Bello going into hiding, instead of turning himself in, until he had successfully negotiated a soft-landing for himself. And when he thought the coast was clear, he appeared unannounced at the EFCC. Flabbergasted, confused, and waiting for orders from above, the EFCC embarrassed itself by allowing Yahaya Bello to walk away free, only to begin to pursue him again! My thoughts!

Either we fight corruption or we don’t – but we should. Former President Muhammadu Buhari told us it is either we kill corruption or corruption kills Nigeria. But the shenanigans witnessed now and again ostensibly in the name of fighting corruption must stop. The media war, too. The appropriate place to try corruption cases is the law court and not on social media or the pages of newspapers. Yahaya Bello is not above the law. He no longer enjoys immunity and the immunity of Gov. Ododo cannot cover him. He must have his day in court once the EFCC is ready. Until then, he cannot lawfully be hounded or harassed. He is deemed innocent until a court of competent jurisdiction finds otherwise.    

* Former Editor of PUNCH newspapers, Chairman of its Editorial Board and Deputy Editor-in-chief, BOLAWOLE was also the Managing Director/ Editor-in-chief of The WESTERNER newsmagazine. He writes the ON THE LORD’S DAY column in the Sunday TRIBUNE and TREASURES column in NEW TELEGRAPH newspaper on Wednesdays. He is also a public affairs analyst on radio and television.