EFCC Chairman Lied, I Didn’t Withdraw Govt Fund To Pay Children School Fees – Yahaya Bello

Former Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, has insisted that he did not withdraw $720,000 from the state cover to pay his children’s school fees while in office.

Bello was reacting to the statement made on Tuesday by the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ola Olukoyede.

Olukoyede had during a press conference, alleged that Bello withdrew cash from the Kogi State Government Account, exchanged it through Bureau De Change operators, and used the funds to pay his children’s school fees in advance before leaving office.

However, in a statement made available on Friday, Bello’s media office denied Olukoyede’s claims, stating, “His Excellency, Alhaji Yahaya Bello did not pay the sum of USD720,000 as alleged by the EFCC Chairman or USD840,000 as is being bandied about on the internet.”

It further clarified that the payment of fees commenced in 2021, well before Bello’s tenure ended

The governor described the remark as misleading, stressing that the receipts in public domain were released by his lawyers.

The statement signed by his Media Officer, Ohiare Michael, noted that the governor’s children had been attending the American International School, Abuja before he became governor and he has been paying their fees as at when due.

The statement titled “Payment for school fees: Setting the records straight”, partly reads, “While we reserve our rights to seek redress against the said defamatory statements, permit us to briefly state the following for the purpose of setting the records straight: “His Excellency, Yahaya Bello’s children have attended the American International School, Abuja well before he became Governor and he has paid fees for his children as and when due and without fail.

“His Excellency, Alhaji Yahaya Bello did not pay the sum of USD720,000 as alleged by the EFCC Chairman or USD840,000 as is being bandied about on the internet.

“The payment of the fees was not effected at about the time his Excellency was to leave office as claimed by Mr. Olukoyede but same commenced in 2021.

“Alhaji Yahaya Bello did not pay the fees of his children with monies from the coffers of the Kogi State Government.”

The statement insisted that the EFCC didn’t recover any money belonging to the former governor or his family members.