Fact Check: Did former Gov Yahaya Bello of Kogi Visit EFCC and Meet Officials ? 

Fact Check: Did former Gov Yahaya Bello of Kogi Visit EFCC and Meet Officials? 

Controversy has surrounded the reported visit of former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission headquarters.

While the ex-governor’s media team claimed that their principal honoured the invitation, the anti-graft agency countered these claims, insisting that Bello remains a wanted person.

A statement on Thursday morning by the Director of the Yahaya Bello Media Office, Ohiare Michael, asserted that the former Kogi governor arrived at the EFCC headquarters to honour the agency’s invitation.

According to Michael, Bello’s decision was made after consultations with his legal team and political associates. 

Photos and videos supporting the claim that former Governor Bello visited the commission were provided to PRNigeria. 

PRNigeria notes that one of the photos shows Yahaya Bello alongside the current Kogi State Governor, Usman Ododo. The image claims that two other identified individuals with them were officials of the EFCC present at the anti-corruption agency’s premises. 

To verify the authenticity of this image, PRNigeria conducted a reverse image search and utilized Jeffrey’s metadata viewer to analyze the photo’s metadata. This analysis confirmed that the photo was taken recently and was not an older image being circulated. 

Furthermore, PRNigeria examined additional images of the individuals alongside former Governor Bello and current Governor Ododo. 

Our photographic analysis identified one of the individuals in the photo as Mr. Michael Nzekwe, Chief of Staff to the EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ola Olukoyede. The other individual was a senior security officer with the EFCC, who appeared to be engaged with Bello and Ododo within the premises of the agency. 

Mr Nzekwe was appointed on 27th April 2024 by the EFCC Chairman. Nzekwe is a topnotch investigator, lawyer and former Commander of the Ilorin Zonal Command of the EFCC, is a course one officer of the Commission. He has served in various departments in the Commission, including Legal and Prosecution Department, Department of Operations (now Department of Investigations), Department of Internal Affairs ( now Department of Ethics and Integrity),  Servicom, and Asset Forfeiture Department.

Conclusion

Therefore, based on the verification of Yahaya Bello’s photograph alongside Governor Ododo, EFCC Chairman’s Chief of Staff Michael Nzekwe, and another security officer, PRNigeria concludes that the EFCC’s claims that Yahaya Bello did not report to the commission are misleading.

By PRNigeria