A report on the widely used social media platform, Facebook, alleges that Yahaya Bello, the former governor of Kogi state, stated that he assisted President Bola Tinubu in manipulating the outcome of the 2023 election.
The post purported that Bello confessed to helping Tinubu, the candidate from the All Progressives Congress (APC), to defeat his main competitors, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), despite Obi allegedly winning by a significant margin.
The election, held in 2023, was a pivotal moment in Nigeria’ s democratic journey, with Tinubu declared the winner after securing 8, 794, 726 votes. His victory was announced by Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on March 1, 2023. The results showed Tinubu ahead of Atiku Abubakar, who received 6, 984, 520 votes, and Peter Obi, who garnered 6, 101, 533 votes.
The Facebook post in question attributed a controversial statement to Bello, claiming he said: ” Tinubu is a thief, I helped him rigged the 2023 election, Peter Obi won him with great margin– EFCC has no right to arrest me because the President of Nigeria is not illegal– Yahaya Bello purportedly opens up. ”
However, this statement attributed to Yahaya Bello has been scrutinized by Africa Check, a reputable fact- checking organization. Their investigation found no credible media reports to support the claim that Bello made such an admission. The lack of evidence suggests that the statement circulating on social media is unfounded.
Meanwhile in a related development, the Abuja division of the Court of Appeal issued an order on Friday halting the contempt lawsuit brought by the former governor of Kogi State, Mr. Yahaya Bello, against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Bello had previously filed a suit asserting his fundamental human rights against the EFCC to shield himself from potential arrest and detention.
Justice Isa Abdullahi Jamil of the Kogi State High Court had ruled on February 9, issuing an interim order that prevented the EFCC from arresting, detaining, persecuting, or prosecuting Bello until the suit was resolved.
The EFCC, in response, lodged an appeal to overturn the ruling but later withdrew it as events had rendered it moot.
This development came after the EFCC had filed a lawsuit against Bello in the Federal High Court, Abuja, which had issued an arrest warrant against the former governor.
Subsequently, Bello once again approached the Kogi High Court, filing a contempt suit before Justice Jamil.
In turn, the EFCC appealed to the Court of Appeal to halt the contempt proceedings initiated by Bello against its chairman, Ola Olukoyode.
A three- member panel of the appellate court, led by Justice Joseph Oyewole and assisted by Justices P. C. Obiora and Okon Abang, granted the EFCC’s request, staying the execution and contempt proceedings.
