Despite contentious findings on Bello, the judge prevents the EFCC from investigating Fayemi’s assistants, causing group kicking.

The Ekiti Justice Group (EJG) has labelled as peculiar the Federal High Court of Abuja’s Justice Emeka Nwite’s exparte order, which prevents the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from looking into the allegations of atrocities committed by the former Ekiti Procurement Director General, Seun Odewale, and Ariyo Oyinkolawa Adesola, including their alleged embezzlement of funds budgeted for the Ekiti Airport project.

The organisation expressed dismay that the same Justice Nwite, who issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Alhaji Yahaya Bello, the former governor of Kogi State, in spite of an ongoing High Court order barring his detention and prosecution, could also prevent the EFCC from looking into Ariyo Adesola and Odewale, who were the Director General of the Bureau of Procurement under Dr. Kayode Fayemi’s governorship.

The EJG accused Justice Nwite of applying a double standard in a statement released on Tuesday by its coordinator, Comrade Tunji Oluwasanmi. The statement asked why what was beneficial for one in Kogi State did not benefit another in Ekiti State.

Similar to the Yahaya Bello case, the group claimed that Chief R.O. Balogun, SAN, the applicant’s attorney, argued in the suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1340/2024 that “the EFCC is using the investigation of Ekiti State Government finances as the basis for interrogating his clients, but the propriety of the EFCC’s investigation regarding contracts awarded or executed by the government of Ekiti State is the subject of an appeal pending before the Court of Appeal in Ado-Ekiti.”

In addition, Balogun mentioned that an appeal-pending application for an injunction and a stay of execution was pending. He claims that the ongoing legal dispute challenges the EFCC’s authority to look into or enquire about projects or contracts that are carried out using funds that have been appropriated by the Ekiti State House of Assembly.

“Yahaya Bello must face trial despite the pending case in the Supreme Court, challenging the power of the EFCC to investigate or make enquiries into the contracts awarded or projects executed with monies appropriated by the Kogi State House of Assembly,” the group continued. “All these arguments adduced in the case of Fayemi’s side, were also advanced in the case of Yahaya Bello,” the group continued.

The EJG stated that Nigerians ought to be aware of how Justice Nwite is handling cases, particularly those that involve the EFCC, and that “it was clear he is allegedly up to something with his handling of the matter involving the former aide of Fayemi and the swiftness with which he granted the exparte order.”

The group insisted that those in charge of Ekiti State funds be held accountable to the public and that, in lieu of asking the court for an order stopping the EFCC’s investigation, those who collaborated with Fayemi ought to appear for questioning if they had no secrets to hide.