Samuel Ortom, the former Benue State Governor, has asked his Kogi State counterpart, Yahaya Bello, to come out of hiding and respond to the case the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) has against him.
Ortom gave the advice at the Redeemed Church in Makurdi on Sunday, April 29, during the thanksgiving service organised by his aides to mark his 63rd birthday anniversary.
Ortom urged the embattled former governor of Kogi state to come out and defend his administration.
“I want to use this opportunity to advise my younger brother and friend, Governor Yahaya Bello, not to disgrace former governors. You don’t need to hide; you don’t need to resist arrest or anything. Go there and respond. EFCC are human beings. If they are making enquiries, the laws are there. I have tried to get him on the phone, but I could not; I have tried those around him, but I could not, so I want this to be noted. So wherever he is, if he can hear me, thank God the press is here, he should come out,” Mr Ortom said.
Honour EFCC Invitation and clear your name – Natasha Akpoti tells Yahaya Bello
Ortom is not the only prominent personality that has called on Bello to come and face his case. Recall that on Friday, 26th April, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the lawmaker representing Kogi Central senatorial district urged Bello to honour the invitation EFCC regarding an alleged N80.2 billion alleged fraud.
The senator lauded efforts by the EFCC to apprehend and prosecute Bello over the alleged fraud committed while in office as governor.
She also commended the EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, for ceding 14 properties that were initially forfeited to the Nigerian Government to the government and people of Enugu State, according to a statement from Arogbonlo Israel, Chief Press Secretary to Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, on Friday.
However, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan emphasised the need for the EFCC to investigate other corrupt public officials to avoid the impression that their actions against Bello were merely a witch-hunt.
She expressed surprise at Bello’s excuse for not attending the EFCC’s invitation.
The EFCC Chairman had claimed that when he invited Bello to his office for questioning, the former Kogi governor told him that a senator (name withheld) had allegedly gathered journalists to humiliate him anytime he was at the agency’s office in Abuja for interrogation.
