Nigeria’s former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Michael Aondoakaa, SAN, has criticized the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for its handling of the investigation into former Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello.
Speaking on Arise News Channel, Aondoakaa stated: “I think the controversy was unnecessary in the case of Yahaya Bello. Because some of the details that are coming up are unnecessary.
”Aondoakaa explained that Bello had sought to enforce his fundamental human rights through legal recourse due to the charge brought against him by the EFCC. He emphasized that the EFCC’s error was including Bello in the charge despite him not being governor at the time of the alleged events.
“The error was that he was being roped in because he was governor, but they referred to 2015. In 2015, the man was not even a governor. He was a governor in 2016,” Aondoakaa said.
The former AGF also noted that Bello had obtained an interlocutory order restraining the EFCC from arresting him pending the hearing of the case. He advised the EFCC to follow the order of the court and not disregard the rule of law.
“The EFCC ought to take orders from the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the enabling law. And the only people that interpret the enabling law are the judges,” Aondoakaa stated.
“In this case, the only order EFCC will follow now is the order made by the trial judge of Kogi High Court, which gave directions on how EFCC will proceed to arraign Yahaya Bello.”
He further statedAondoakaa elaborated on the recent judgment delivered by Justice Modipwe, which clarified the legal standing of the case. He noted that the judgment emphasized that Bello should not be arrested or detained and instead, the court should issue summons for him to appear regarding the pending charge.
He stressed further that the EFCC need to respect and follow the law and court’s directives to ensure a fair and just outcome.
