The EFCC charged Bello against political motivations.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s accusation of corruption against the outgoing governor, Yahaya Bello, has been refuted by the Kogi State Government.

The previous governor was accused by the EFCC of embezzling around N100 billion months before to his September 2015 appointment as governor, in an amended allegation brought against Alli Bello, the current governor’s chief of staff.

In a statement made public on Friday, the state’s commissioner of information, Kingsley Fanwo, maintained that the funds were not missing and charged the EFCC with having political motivations to damage Bello’s name.

Part of the statement said, “As an administration, we inherited the zero tolerance for corruption policy from Governor Yahaya Bello’s immediate past administration.”

“A few years ago, we saw an alarming trend and deluge of witch-hunting by the EFCC, which was shamelessly trying to indict our administration and its officials for corruption. The commission first claimed to have found a fictitious sum in a purported fixed deposit account.

“In the end, it shot itself in the foot by pretending that the money had been given to the Central Bank of Nigeria, which is currently managed by the disgraced Godwin Emefiele, in a poorly staged skit. This represents the pinnacle of a witch-hunt and an unwarranted assault on the credibility of the Kogi state government and people.

“We would like to clarify for the records that Kogi’s money are not missing and that the EFCC is making every effort to locate what is not missing. As a result, we demand that the EFCC stop bringing up Kogi State in relation to its ongoing persecution, which is being carried out by certain political figures in and around the Presidency who are determined to harm Bello’s reputation.

“The modified charges are fictional, untrue, frivolous, and distant from the truth. The former governor’s name was referenced in them. These are made-up accusations that indicate their desperate attempt to hang a dog by giving it a terrible reputation. The goal was to intensify the situation and launch a media offensive against the outgoing governor and other officials of the government.”

In addition, Fanwo urged President Bola Tinubu to establish a separate investigation into the state’s affairs in order to stop political hawks from “using the EFCC as a hired gun.”