By Ekuson Nw’Ogbunka
Abuja
A constitutional and criminal lawyer of note, Barr Amobi Nzelu, has condemned the dodging of invitation from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by former Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi state, saying such behaviour makes him irresponsible.
He advised the former governor to strictly obey the law and answer the call the way former Governor Fayose did when he was in invited by the anti graft agency. He also warned against linking Mr President to the matter.
Nzelu spoke with our correspondent on the telephone on Friday.
Before declaring him wanted, the anti crime agency had been inviting Bello over his alleged involvement in a financial crime to the tune of about N80 billion.
He said: “Yahaya Bello is behaving irresponsibly and a former number one citizen of Kogi state; his conduct is highly unfortunate. This country isn’t a Banana Republic. He can’t serve for eight good years without going to account for what he did for the period of eight years with public fund. He is a young man, but he isn’t doing well.”
Citing how Fayose was invited by the EFCC and how he didn’t hesitate to honour the invitation, he said: “His continued refusal to obey the law isn’t proper. He should go and answer the call and he would either be given administrative bail, or he would look for someone to bail him there. The way he has been on the run, making him look like a criminal, isn’t fair.
Nzelu however condemned the role Governor Usman Ododo had been playing in the whole thing, he said: “Ododo should stop that thing he is doing. He shouldn’t be using his convoy to carry Bello, because he put him there. We should move forward in this country.
“The EFCC has the right to arrest him. Nobody can stop them from doing their work. Getting exparte order from Kogi High Court isn’t accountability. If you don’t want to account for the way you used public fund,, you go and pay with your personal money. But once it is public money, you must account for it.”
He continued: “Ododo isn’t doing well. He should tell Bello to answer the call. There is one law for this country. Unless they want me to believe that there are different laws for different people in this country. The former governor should go and respond. Look at the manpower deployed to arrest one man. Yahaya Bello should behave well.”
The Apo – Six lawyer therefore warned against linking President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the case with the reason that Bello didn’t step down for Mr President, when all of them were aspiring for presidency, he said that Tinubu didn’t tell him to shun EFCC’s invitation.
