The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has pledged to conduct a thorough investigation into the corruption allegations against the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle.
The spokesman of the anti-graft agency, Dele Oyewale, gave this assurance in a statement on Wednesday during an interface at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja between the EFCC and members of the Tinubu Youth and Women Network, a political pressure group that has been advocating for an investigation into Matawalle’s alleged corruption.
Matawalle is being investigated over allegations of mismanagement of public funds and resources during his tenure as the Governor of Zamfara State from 2019 to 2023.
Arogidigba Global Journal recalls that the EFCC had announced in May 2023 that it was investigating Matawalle over allegations of massive corruption, award of fictitious contracts, and diversion of over N70 billion.
The Tinubu Youth and Women Network, which claims to be working with the government to identify and address instances of corruption, urged the EFCC to revisit the investigation into Matawalle’s alleged corruption.
Carrying placards with inscriptions such as ‘EFCC, why is Matawalle free?’, ‘EFCC, don’t forget Matawalle’, ‘EFCC, is Matawalle above the law?’ among others, the group said the former governor had diverted billions of naira meant for projects in Zamfara State and has called for his prosecution.
While presenting their demands, the leader of the group, Comrade Aliyu Yunusa, said, “We are formally requesting the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) to reopen the investigation into the corruption allegations against the former governor of Zamfara State, Bello Mohammed Matawalle, who is currently state Minister for Defense.
“We are appealing to the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) to continue investigating Bello Mohammed Matawalle’s alleged mismanagement of public funds during his tenure as Governor of Zamfara State and his involvement in the famous arms deal scandal.
“As party loyalists, we want the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) to investigate the matter and bring justice to those responsible for the mismanagement of public funds. This will serve as a deterrent to others considering engaging in corrupt practices in public office, especially considering what happened to the humanitarian minister.”
Reacting to the group’s demands, Oyewale assured that the EFCC will convey their message to the commission’s chairman, Ola Olukoyede, and assured that the right thing will be done concerning the matter.
“Investigations as far as anti-corruption work is concerned, is not a press-button thing. Investigations have to be detailed, they have to be thorough, fully integrated and broad-based. You have aired your views, and we will do what we’re supposed to do.
“We’ll convey your message to the executive chairman. As you can see, the admin has been doing marvelously well, and it’ll do more. Every single thing that you have addressed in your letter will be conveyed to the appropriate quarters, and I can assure you that the right thing will be done,” Oyewale said.