A group, the Northern Initiative for the Defence of Democracy and Justice, has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to call to order the immediate past governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, from undermining the institutions of the state.
In a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja on Monday, signed by the President of the group, Ambassador Nurudeen Musa Sadiq, and Secretary, Hajjia Ramatu AbdulRahaman, the group appealed to the National Judicial Council (NJC) to wade into attempts by the former governor to ruin the image of the judiciary.
According to the statement, “Ex-Governor Bello is not above the laws of Nigeria; as such, he should be fished or flushed out of his hideout and made to face the law to serve as a deterrent to his fellow travellers.
“The underlining fact is that the citizens of the state have the right to know how their collective wealth was spent, and the governor is under the mandate of the law to explain how he distributed their wealth.
“We stand to say at this junction that if nothing tangible is done about the antics of ex-governor Bello, it can be well said ‘we are gradually taking the road to Kigali’, because of its envisaged spiral effect.
“On the basis of this, we urge President Ahmed Bola Tinubu to call Yahaya Adoza Bello to order and put him where he belongs before his antics collapse our much-cherished democracy.
“We also appeal to the Nigeria Judicial Council (NJC) to, as a matter of urgency, wade in and nip in the bud the move by the ex-governor to bring the judiciary of this nation into disrepute.
“We had instances when some ex-governors, public office holders, and other prominent Nigerians, including those in the private sector, were dragged before the law to explain their stewardship while in office.
“For instance, former governors of Plateau and Taraba states, Joshua Dariye and Rev. Jolly Nyame, and other prominent Nigerians who were found wanting in their stewardship were made to serve various jail terms for their crimes.
“Alhaji Yahaya Bello cannot be treated as a sacred cow, for he who aspires to the hall of equity must be seen with clean hands. We know what he did and stood for while holding the leadership mantle in the state.
“The EFCC boss, Ola Olukoyede, was quoted as saying recently that he would resign from his appointment if he failed to prosecute the ex-governor of Kogi over alleged monumental corruption to its logical conclusion.
“That statement shows that there is a ray of hope on the horizon, that no one can divert public funds and go scot-free.
“We hereby commend the EFCC boss for his tenacity of purpose and his efforts in calling a spade by its name and moving against the ex-governor.
“We have also discovered that the ex-governor is not resting on his oars. He is currently exploiting the weak links in the nation’s laws, particularly the judiciary, to evade prosecution for his alleged sleaze while in office.”
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