EFCC Scandal-Ridden Ex-Gov Yahaya Bello Cleared for Senate Battle Amid N80bn Fraud Trial!

LOKOJA — The political atmosphere in Kogi State, fraught with days of intense speculation and backroom maneuvers, cleared up dramatically ahead of the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Assembly primaries. Putting to rest widespread rumors regarding his eligibility, the APC National Assembly Screening Committee officially cleared the immediate past governor of the state, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, to contest the party’s ticket for the Kogi Central Senatorial District.

​Bello’s name appeared as number 13 on the final list of 17 senatorial aspirants cleared across the state’s three districts, setting the stage for a high-stakes showdown. The former governor is scheduled to battle the APC Diaspora Secretary, Momoh Yusuf Obaro, and Ibrahim Yakubu Adoke for the ticket. The winner of this primary will face a formidable opponent in the general election: the incumbent PDP Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.

​For days, political observers in Lokoja and Abuja questioned whether Bello would pass the screening, given the heavy legal baggage trailing his exit from the Government House. The former governor is currently facing a high-profile 19-count charge brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over an alleged N80.2 billion money laundering case. The ongoing trial at the Federal High Court in Abuja has seen a carousel of prosecution witnesses, ranging from bank compliance officers to corporate accountants, testifying on complex fund movements and property transactions. While Bello’s defense team continues to aggressively challenge the admissibility of the EFCC’s evidence, the cloud of the anti-graft war remains a permanent fixture of his post-gubernatorial career.

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​Yet, Bello’s transition from executive governance to legislative aspiration underscores a broader, systemic trend in contemporary Nigerian politics: the morphing of the National Assembly—specifically the Senate—into an exclusive retirement resort for former governors.

​Over the last two decades, the “Red Chamber” has increasingly transformed into a sanctuary where two-term state executives seek soft landings. Upon exhausting their constitutional limits at the state level, these powerful politicians deploy their massive financial structures and local influence to displace career lawmakers. Critics argue that this migration turns the highest lawmaking body into a political decompression chamber rather than an incubator for robust legislative governance, with many former governors treating the Senate as a part-time platform to maintain political relevance, retain immunity-adjacent influence, and protect their legacies from probing successor administrations.

​With his screening hurdle now cleared, Yahaya Bello joins a long line of executive veterans attempting to pivot from the sweeping authority of a Government House to the collaborative floor of the legislative chambers. Whether the voters of Kogi Central will facilitate this retirement plan, or if the ongoing EFCC trial will disrupt the script, remains the defining question of Monday’s primary contest.