The Governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, has urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission not to confine its corruption investigation to governors alone, but to include members of the Presidency and the Federal Executive Council as well.
The governor made the demand in a statement issued on Wednesday in response to a story quoting EFCC Chairman Abdulrasheed Bawa as stating the anti-graft agency has sent invitations to all outgoing governors and commissioners for corruption investigations.
While Matawalle supports the intention to investigate outgoing governors, he believes officials in the Presidency should also be investigated.
Matawalle said, “The investigation must be holistic and not selective. It is in this respect that the recent invitations and pronouncement by the EFCC chair is imbalanced, incomplete, hypocritical, and unnecessarily skewed.”
“This is counter-productive to the anti-corruption crusade itself, that is, if Mallam Bawa is actually committed to one.”
“I demand that the EFCC chair extend similar invitations to officers of the Presidency and members of the Federal Executive Council, which is the highest tier of government in the country.”
“In furtherance of my desire to engender a broad-based investigation and an enlargement of the fight against corruption, I will also demand that Abdulrasheed Bawa excuse himself and surrender himself for investigation, as I and some eminent Nigerians have evidence of corrupt practices, breach of public trust and abuse of office against him and the commission led by him.”
“Importantly, he needs to come clean with Nigerians on the way and manner he has prosecuted the anti-corruption fight. He needs to explain among others how seized assets by the EFCC are being sold without adherence to due process.”
“He should explain, for instance, how he has assumed the role of the plaintiff, prosecutor, and jury and how he has executed his brand of plea bargaining with suspected criminals and saboteurs of the Nigerian economy and agenda who instead of being put on trial, are walking freely all over Nigeria.”
Wilson Uwujaren, the EFCC’s Director of Media and Publicity, did not react to our correspondent’s enquiries about the development and allegations as of press time, despite phone calls and text messages to his phone number on Wednesday.
