By Abubakar Yunusa
The Zamfara All Progressives Congress (APC) Youth Movement has dismissed the protest by a rented crowd calling on the EFCC to reopen investigations into alleged N70 billion contracts awarded by the former Zamfara State Governor, now Minister of Defence for the State, Dr Bello Matawalle.
The party stated that the protest was politically motivated to tarnish his image, reputation, and integrity as a distinguished minister in President Bola Tinubu’s government.
The Chairman of the APC youth, Abubakar Ibrahim Gusau, spoke in a statement shared with journalists in Abuja on Saturday.
He said Dr Matawalle’s political opponents in Zamfara State are afraid of his towering profile and achievements as governor and minister and have resorted to propaganda, blackmail, fake news, and the renting of children and youth to protest.
First at the National Assembly against his appointment as Minister of Defence for the State and now at the EFCC for the commission to reopen an alleged corruption case in the N70 billion contracts he awarded as Executive Governor of Zamfara State from 2019 to 2023.
All the contracts he awarded followed due process and passed through the Bureau of Public Procurement in accordance with the requirements and regulations of the Financial and General Purpose Committee (FGPC) and the State Executive Council.
There is no documentary evidence where the former governor was indicted for misappropriation, misapplication, and embezzlement of public funds for personal enrichment.
Furthermore, there is no Judiciary Commission of Inquiry or anti-graft agency in Zamfara State where Dr Bello Matawalle was indicted for alleged corruption.
“More importantly, there is a subsisting court judgment that restrained the EFCC from investigating, arresting, and prosecuting Matawalle. The judgment has not been set aside by a higher court.
“We challenge the sponsors of the protest to provide the public with any documentary evidence where the former governor collected funds from any contractor as kickback when he was in office or show any bank account where such funds were siphoned by Matawalle.
As governor, Matawalle had the responsibility to award contracts based on specifications.
This campaign of calumny orchestrated by Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal of PDP in collusion with some desperate APC members in the state to destabilize our great party in Zamfara State and distract Dr Bello Matawalle from discharging his duties as Minister of the Federal Republic has failed woefully.
It is all about the 2027 general election permutations and increasing popularity of Matawalle in Zamfara State in particular and the nation in general.
We are alarmed by the waste of Zamfara State’s scarce resources by Governor Lawal in instigating and fighting Matawalle instead of providing basic amenities to citizens in the state and concentrating on the fight against insecurity challenges bedeviling the State for more than a decade.
As governor, Matawalle was committed to good governance, infrastructural development, healthcare, education, agriculture, and the total development of the state, which enormously impacted the people.
His government was marked by transparency, inclusiveness, and dedication to the welfare of the citizens of Zamfara State.
