Alleged N70bn scam: We’ll Revisit Case Against Deputy Defence Minister Matawalle, EFCC Says

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Friday promised to revisit the N70 billion money laundering case against a former Governor of Zamfara State.and Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle. 

According to the commission, all high profile cases left behind by the former EFCC chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa has been reviewed. 

The Acting Director of Public Affairs in EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, gave the assurance during a protest by a socio-politcal organization under the aegis of Zamfara Alternative Forum (ZAF) at its  Headquarters in Abuja. 

Arise Correspondent reports that the ZAF on Friday, stormed the EFCC Headquarters in protest, with a call on the EFCC to revisit the probe of Matawalle over alleged N70 billion money laundered during his tenure as the Governor of Zamfara State.

Matawalle was initially under investigation by the EFCC during the tenure of Abdulrasheed Bawa for 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 Governments in the state. 

The anti-graft commission said the governor used proxies who posed as contractors for the projects and got paid but did not execute the projects. 

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

But since Bawa left, not much have been heard about the case. 

The chairman of ZAF, Mallam Musa Sa’idu, who led the protesters to the commission to submit a petition told the EFCC to resume the investigation against Matawalle. 

He said the call became necessary following growing concerns about corruption in Nigeria and the bold steps taken by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in recent decisions regarding officials of his government suspected of embezzlement. 

Sa’idu recalled that the investigations by the EFCC revealed that over 100 companies had received payments from the funds, with no evidence of service rendered to the state.

He said, “The Zamfara Alternative Forum is urging the EFCC to continue investigating the alleged mismanagement of public funds by Bello Mohammed Matawalle during his tenure as the Governor of Zamfara State.

“We want the EFCC to investigate the matter and bring those responsible for the mismanagement of public funds to justice. This will serve as a deterrent to others considering engaging in corrupt practices in public office, especially in addition to what happened to the humanitarian minister.

“The mismanagement of public funds has far-reaching effects on the people and the state. It leads to a lack of development, loss of revenue, and a decrease in the quality of life for the people.

While receiving the protesters, Uwujaren assured that the matter would be looked into, noting that there is nobody above the law. 

He said the anti-graft agency under Ola Olukoyede would not ignore high profile cases.  

Uwujaren said, “I want to thank the Zamfara people for doing this peacefully. We like this kind of peaceful initiative by young Nigerians, I want to assure you that as far as the commission is concerned, nobody is above the law.

“What the EFCC chairman has done since he assumed office is that he has reviewed all high-profile cases he inherited. And he asked me to assure you that this case would not be an exception like others that and it will be reviewed, and he is assuring you that something will be done under the law and no one is above the law and no case shall be swept under the carpet.

“Be rest assured that this case will be revisited because EFCC believes that no case should be swept under the law. If you have done something wrong and our investigation is able to establish that you have a case, we will proceed with the matter.”

Friday Olokor

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