Former Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, has reportedly been denied clearance to take part in the All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial primary screening in Kogi State after he failed to appear before the party’s screening panel.
This is according to a list of screened APC senatorial aspirants from Kogi State, which emanated from the Kogi State Secretariat of the ruling party on Monday.
The development comes days after earlier reports indicated that the former governor had been screened and cleared alongside other aspirants contesting for senatorial tickets across the state.
It was earlier reported that the APC screening committee approved 17 aspirants for the primaries scheduled for Monday, with Mr Bello’s name appearing among cleared contenders for the Kogi Central Senatorial District.
However, party sources familiar with the screening process told Sahara Reporters that the former governor was eventually disqualified after allegedly failing to appear before the screening panel.
One APC source told SaharaReporters that Mr Bello “didn’t participate in the screening exercise” and was therefore not cleared.
Another source claimed the former governor avoided the screening due to questions about ongoing criminal investigations and court cases.
The source alleged that one question on the APC screening form required aspirants to disclose any pending criminal investigations or prosecutions.
“The APC Kogi senatorial screening report shows Yahaya Bello isn’t cleared. This is because he didn’t want to be judged by question seven in the APC senatorial form, which has to do with the disclosure of ongoing criminal investigations,” the source reportedly said.
The source further alleged that operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) were monitoring activities around the screening venue, although the anti-graft agency has not commented on the claim.
Bello is seeking the APC ticket to challenge the incumbent senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the 2027 election.
The former governor’s senatorial ambition has remained controversial because of his ongoing corruption trials before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The EFCC is prosecuting him in two separate cases involving allegations of money laundering, criminal breach of trust, and diversion of public funds.
In one case, the commission filed a 19-count charge accusing Bello of laundering about ₦80.2 billion allegedly diverted from the Kogi State treasury during his tenure as governor.
The anti-graft agency alleged that the funds were moved through multiple bank accounts and used to acquire luxury properties in Nigeria and Dubai.
The case is being heard before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The trial has featured testimonies from bank officials and other witnesses over alleged structured cash transactions designed to evade financial reporting regulations.
In another case, the EFCC accused Yahaya Bello and two co-defendants, Umar Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu, of involvement in an alleged ₦110.4 billion fraud and criminal breach of trust.
The former governor has consistently denied all allegations and pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The corruption allegations against Yahaya Bello have continued to shape political debates around his return to elective office.