The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday said that it would under its present leadership revisit the N70 billion money laundering case against former Zamfara State governor and current Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle.
The commission specifically said all high profile cases left behind by its former chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, were being reviewed.
The Acting Director of Public Affairs at the commission, Wilson Uwujaren, disclosed this when a group under the aegis of Zamfara Alternative Forum (ZAF) protested at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
The ZAF stormed the EFCC headquarters to urge the commission to revisit the probe of Matawalle over alleged N70 billion money laundering during his tenure as the Governor of Zamfara State.
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Recall that the former governor was initially under investigation by the anti-graft agency during the tenure of Abdulrasheed Bawa over the alleged pocketing of N70 billion from the Zamfara State government coffers.
The EFCC alleged that the governor siphoned Zamfara State’s funds sourced as a loan from an old-generation bank purportedly for the execution of projects in local councils of the state.
The anti-graft commission alleged that the governor used proxies, who posed as contractors for the projects and got paid, but did not execute the projects.
Matawalle had accused the EFCC of targeting only governors while ignoring officials with budgetary allocation at the federal level. However, since Bawa left office, not much had been heard about the case.
Chairman of ZAF, Mallam Musa Sa’idu, who led the protesters to the commission to submit a petition, urged the EFCC to resume the investigation against Matawalle.
He said the call came amidst 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 of public funds.
Sa’idu recalled that the commission’s investigations 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 of the people.”
Responding, Uwujaren assured the protesters that the matter would be looked into, noting that there was nobody above the law.
The EFCC official said the anti-graft agency under Ola Olukoyede would not ignore high profile cases.
“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 it will be reviewed. 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,” he said.
