Court summons EFCC chair for alleged contempt over moves to arrest Yahaya Bello

The Kogi State High Court in Lokoja, on Friday, ordered the chairperson of the EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, to appear before it on 13 May to show why he should not be jailed for allegedly disobeying its order

The judge, I.A. Jamil, gave the order in a ruling in a suit marked, HCL/68M/2024, brought before him by former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello.

Mr Bello’s application initiating a contempt charge against the EFCC chair is part of his desperate efforts to stop his arraignment and trial on N80 billion money laundering charges instituted against him after he left office as governor in January.

In his application, Mr Bello accused Mr Olukoyede of committing an act of contempt by allegedly violating the court’s order which, he had said, barred the EFCC from arresting him.

EFCC recently charged Mr Bello at the Federal High Court in Abuja with money laundering involving over N80 billion .

But the anti-graft agency has not been able to arraign him due to his absence from court.

Mr Bello managed to evade arrest on 17 February when operatives of the commission attempted to execute an arrest warrant against him at his residence in Abuja.

“The said act was carried out by the Respondent (EFCC) in violation of the order, which was valid and subsisting when they carried out the act.

“That same act of the respondent amounts to contempt,” the judge said in his ruling in thr contempt proceedings on Friday.