The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), has said it has confirmed the receipt of the refund of $760,000 paid as advanced school fees by Yahaya Bello, former governor of Kogi State, for his children at the American International School, Abuja.
Spokesperson for the EFCC, Dele Oyewale, confirmed the development to newsmen in Abuja on Friday. He said, “The school has refunded the entire $ 760, 000 to the EFCC’s recovery account”.
Earlier, the American International School of Abuja had asked the EFCC to provide “authentic banking details” for the refund of fees paid for the children of the former governor.
Recall that Bello was accused of using funds from the Kogi State Government to pay $720,000 in advance for fees of five of his children enrolled in Grades-2 to 8.
In an effort to apprehend Bello regarding an alleged N80.2 billion scam, EFCC agents besieged his Abuja home on April 17. The governor of Kogi, Usman Ododo, reportedly arrived at the residence while the operatives were there and reportedly whisked Bello away.
In a letter addressed to the Lagos Zonal Commander of the EFCC, the school said the sum of $845,852 has been paid in tuition “since the 7th of September 2021 to date”.
AISA said the sum to be refunded is $760,910 because it had deducted educational services already rendered, adding that it would draw the attention of the anti-graft agency if there were any further deposits by the Bello family.
Chairman of the EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, had earlier revealed that the former governor transferred $720,000 from the government’s coffers to a Bureau-de-Change before leaving office to pay in advance for his child’s school fee.
Olukoyede, who revealed this during an interview with newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja, said, “A sitting governor, because he knows he is going, moved money directly from government to a Bureau-de-Change, used it to pay the child’s school fee in advance, $720,000 in advance, in anticipation that he was going to leave the Government House.
“In a poor State like Kogi, and you want me to close my eyes to that under the guise of ‘I’m being used.’ Being used by who at this stage of my life?
