EFCC insists on prosecuting Matawalle over alleged N70b fraud

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has vowed to continue the alleged N70 billion-corruption case against the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, while he was the governor of Zamfara State from 2019 to 2023.

EFCC Acting Director of Public Affairs, Wilson Uwajuren, made the pledge while addressing protesters who stormed the commission’s headquarters in Abuja yesterday, calling for the reopening of the pending case.

The former governor was initially under investigation by the anti-corruption agency during the tenure of Abdulrasheed Bawa over alleged pocketing of N70 billion from the Zamfara State government coffers.

The EFCC said the governor allegedly siphoned Zamfara’s funds sourced as a loan from an old-generation bank purportedly for the execution of projects in local councils in the state.

Matawalle then accused the EFCC of targeting only governors while ignoring officials with budgetary allocation at the federal level.

Presenting a copy of their petition to EFCC, Chairman of the APC Akida Forum, Musa Mahmud, requested the Commission to reopen the investigation into the corruption allegations against Matawalle.

Mahmud said the call comes amidst growing concerns about corruption in Nigeria and the bold steps taken by the APC administration in recent decisions regarding government officials suspected of embezzlement, including former Kogi Governor Yahaya Bello, among others.

“The APC AKIDA Forum is appealing to the 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 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.

“The APC Akida Forum, as a political pressure group, commends the Federal Government for making bold decisions against corruption,” he added.