Fresh Petition Accuses Yahaya Bello, Ododo, Of Looting, Misappropriating Over N300 Billion LGA Funds

A fresh petition before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has accused former Kogi state Governor, Yahaya Bello and his successor, Usman Ododo, of conniving with others to either loot or misappropriate over N300Billion allocation to the 21 Local Governments of the state between May 2016-January 2024.

On Wednesday, operatives of EFCC had stormed Bello’s residence in Abuja in an attempt to arrest him over an ongoing fraud investigation. But Ododo arrived the former Governor’s residence and helped him to evade arrest by smuggling him out.

However, the fresh petition listed all the 21 immediate past Local Government Chairmen who served during Bello as co-conspirators in the looting of the over N300billion LG funds.

The petition signed by a group known as Kogi Conscience stated that in 2016, N23.1billion was received as Kogi Local Govt Allocations and in 2018, N43.6billion was received. In 2019, N41.1Billion was received while in 2020, N34.4billion was received as Local Govt allocation from the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Commission.

The group added that in 2021, N44.7billion was received while in 2023, N73.1billion was received from the RMFC for Local Governments in the state.

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At the time the over N300billion was looted, the current Kogi Governor, Ododo, served as the Auditor General for Local Governments, making him the one who supervised the misappropriation and looting of the billions.