Yahaya Bello, the rich and once powerful governor of Kogi state, has stopped running his steeplechase and turned himself in. Since leaving office last January, the financial crime investigator, EFCC, has been pursuing him on a charge of embezzlement and money laundering to the tune of N80.2 billion. The former governor just wouldn’t stay in one place to be slapped with the legal papers. The day he handed over to his successor, whom he, of course, handpicked, Yahaya took off for Abuja. Here, he challenged the EFCC to a race of steeplechase. He abandoned his luxury cars and took to riding power bikes which he changed at every turn to avoid being identified and arrested. But someday the race would come to an end and now, truly, it has.
The ex-governor’s media spokesman, Ohiare Michael, said in a statement Wednesday that Yahaya “willingly surrendered” because he had “great respect for the rule of law….” According to him, Yahaya made his decision “after due consultation with his family, legal team and political allies.” On and on Michael chorused about his boss: “The former governor, who had great respect for the rule of law and constituted authority, had all this while only sought the enforcement of his fundamental rights to ensure due process. The case has been before a competent court of jurisdiction and Alhaji Yahaya Bello had been duly represented by his legal team at every hearing. It is important for (him) to now honour the invitation of the EFCC to clear his name as he has nothing to hide and nothing to fear… It is on record that he was the first governor of Kogi State to put in place an anti-corruption mechanism to check graft and ensure that the resources of the state work for the people of the state.”
Respect for the rule of law and constituted authority. Nothing to hide and nothing to fear. Yet the former government refused to personally appear in court for arraignment. Instead, it was his legal team that was making excuses for him including concerns for his safety. In April, the EFCC complained about Yahaya’s no show in court. It told Justice Emeka Nwite, “The stage we are at now is to determine the whereabouts of the defendant. He cannot be in his house while the trial proceeds without him coming here to take his plea. This is a criminal matter, he must come and take his plea. It’s a matter of over N80 billion. All these applications by the defendant are to prevent his arraignment and frustrate the commencement of trial.” The judge agreed and instructed that Yahaya be served the court papers through his counsel.
Five months later, Yahaya finally put in an appearance, not in court but at the EFCC to answer a nine-month old “invitation”. That stage was long past after the investigator decided to go to court. Then on August 20, the Court of Appeal told Yahaya he must meet the EFCC in court. We can infer one thing only from this. All that while the former governor made himself a fugitive was to buy himself time to play Andrew. He must get out of the country before the law got to him. Now the Court of Appeal has slammed the window and there is no escaping. For Yahaya, no longer what Shakespeare says: “Robes and furr’d gowns hide all. /Plate sin with gold, /And the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks; /Arm it in rags, a pigmy’s straw does pierce it.” Without his robes and furred gowns, the ex-governor is vulnerable to a “pigmy’s straw”. That is what he is afraid of. It explains all the helter sheltering.
