A former Minister of Aviation in Nigeria, Femi Fani-Kayode, has slammed ‘all those that pronounced Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State guilty of a crime he never committed’.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that Bello had been accused of diverting N20 billion bailout funds.
But on Friday, the case instituted against the Kogi State government was withdrawn, courtesy of a request by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
This newspaper recalls that the money, which was meant for the payment of Kogi workers, was alleged to have been domiciled in an interest-yielding account with the bank by officials of the state government.
Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke granted the order of withdrawal on Friday sequel to a motion filed and argued by EFCC counsel, Kemi Pinheiro (SAN).
Pinheiro listed six grounds upon which the judge granted the prayer, adding that “the EFCC is a responsible body”.
One of the grounds was that questions resulting in the commencement of the suit had been clarified, and an intention had been shown to return the sum of N19,333,333,333.36 to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Justice Aneke held: “I have listened to the submission of the learned Silk for the application, Mr Kemi Pinheiro SAN vis-a-vis perused the motion to withdraw. My humble opinion is that application is meritorious and ought to be granted. Accordingly, the application is granted as prayed.”
Reacting to the news, Fani-Kayode posted on his verified Twitter handle: “Now that the EFCC have withdrawn their case against Yahaya Bello and the Kogi State Government where are all those that condemned him and pronounced him guilty of a crime he never committed?
“Shame on you!” Fani-Kayode wrote.
Fani-Kayode enjoys a warm relationship with Bello, and lately, has not hidden his affection for the Kogi Governor .
