Group Protests Against Matawalle

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has vowed to prosecute corrupt government officials who are found wanting, declaring that nobody is above the law.

This comes as a group protested yesterday against the minister of defence, Bello Matawalle.

EFCC Spokesperson Dele Oyewale said this when the Chairman of APC Akida Forum (AAF), Musa Mahmud, led protesters to the Commission headquarters in Abuja on Monday.

The group demanded the probe of the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, and the former governor of Zamfara state over the alleged misappropriation of N290 billion accrued from the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).

Oyewale said: “On behalf of the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, Mr Olukoyede, I want to assure all of us that the commission would investigate every economic and financial crime act. We have been doing it, and we will continue to do it.

“And I also want to use this forum to express that the commission recognises Nigerians’ right to peaceful protest. This protest is peaceful. You can be assured that we will relay this message to the executive chairman and take necessary action.”

As the leader of the protesters, Mahmud wondered why the EFCC had not yet acted on its petition submitted on May 3, 2024, to proceed with the probe of Matawalle.

He said: “We lodged a petition at the headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on May 3, 2024, urging the commission to proceed with its investigation of the former Governor of Zamfara State, Bello Mohammed Matawalle.

“We have lauded the performance and resilience of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) leadership in its fight against corruption without bias many times.”

However, the Executive Director of Patriots for Peace and Social Development, Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi, had accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of sponsoring a malicious report to tarnish the minister’s name.

Shinkafi said: “It is evident that the allegations and suit were sponsored by his political opponents in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), hoping he would be dropped in the proposed cabinet reshuffled by Mr President on Independence Day.

“No doubt President Tinubu is aware of their political intrigues and will not sacrifice his outstanding minister for his opponents’ inordinate political ambition that stagnated the nation from 1999 to 2015 PDP was in power.”