The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) refuted allegations that its Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, engaged in a media trial of the former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello.
Olukoyede had convened a press conference where he disclosed that Bello withdrew $720,000 from a government account to cover his child’s school fees. He also asserted that the former governor invited the EFCC to his village for interrogation.
Additionally, the EFCC Chairman pledged to resign if he failed to apprehend Bello and proceed with the investigation. However, former Vice President of the ECOWAS Court of Justice, Prof. Nwoke Chijioke, criticized Olukoyede’s actions, labeling the press conference as an inappropriate and unjust trial.
Chijioke argued, “The EFCC chairman’s press conference of yesterday was really uncalled for. That is an unfair trial. All these challenges are because of what I would call a media trial.”
In contrast, EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, defended Olukoyede’s statements, asserting that they did not contravene any regulations. Oyewale clarified, “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 the 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.”