A group, Kogi Network for Emancipation and Transparency (KNET), has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to call the leadership of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to order, following the arrest, arraignment and detention of the nephew of Governor Yahaya Bello.
A statement issued by the group’s Executive Director, Mr. Musa Opadotun, in Lokoja, the state capital, Friday stated that the call becomes imperative if the current government must sustain its fight against corruption.
Opadotun, in the statement, specifically drew the attention of President Buhari to the attitude of the operatives of the commission whom he accused of persecuting Governor Bello.
“We are calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently intervene and call the leadership and operatives of the EFCC to order.
“The call is pertinent because we have observed a certain pattern whereby some elements have decided to use the esteemed organisation to rubbish and malign the person and the office of Governor Yahaya Bello,” Opadotun wrote.
The group claimed that on many occasions, the EFCC tried and failed to link Bello or any official of his government to any form of corruption but has not relented.
According to the group, the pattern of persecution of the governor began when he (Bello) decided to contest the presidency.
“We are worried because we feel that the fight against corruption was one of the key campaign promises of Mr. President but this is being eroded by the officials of the EFCC,” he said.
He absolved the governor and his government of any form of wrongdoing in the management of the affairs of the state
“We are of the view that the EFCC is doing a hatchet job for some shadowy elements. If not so, how can the commission continually hound Governor Bello who has not only made transparency his watchword but has been adjudged to have prudently managed the affairs of the state.
“This fact can be attested to by many accolades the state has received from several international agencies across the globe,” the group said.
Opadotun said that in healthcare, Kogi State emerged the Best Performing State in World Bank’s ANRiN project, adding that the state outshone 10 other states assessed for the project’s Community-Based Nutrition Service Delivery.
He stated that the state government received the Certificate of Achievement as Best Performing State: Community-Based Nutrition Service Delivery (NSA Performance +DLI) at the 6th ANRIN Implementation Support event, held in Abuja.
The ANRiN project, supported by the World Bank, is a priority health-care project aimed at increasing the utilisation of quality, cost-effective nutrition services for pregnant and lactating women, adolescent girls and children to reduce illnesses and enhance their overall wellbeing, he said.
Eleven states, including Kogi, Abia, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Oyo, Plateau, and Katsina were assessed.
The drivers of the project, who are non-state actors recruited through the World Bank’s procurement processes, noted that participating states, through the provision of basic health needs, including deworming for children (12-59 months), IFA supplementation for pregnant women, malaria care for pregnant women, among others, would be able to reduce infant and maternal mortality drastically.
