Just In : EFCC Reacts To Report Of Declaring Matawalle Wanted
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has denied a Tribune report that former Zamfara Governor, Bello Matawalle, had been declared wanted.
A few days before his resignation, Matawalle accused the now-suspended EFCC chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, of demanding a $2 million bribe from him.
Matawalle also chastised the EFCC for going after governors while ignoring federal officials with large budgetary allocations in an interview with the BBC.
The EFCC denied the allegations, saying it was investigating Matawalle for allegedly siphoning N70 billion in state funds through unexecuted contracts awarded to his cronies and for which money was received.
Dauda Lawal, the governor of Zamfara State, also accused Matawalle of stealing official vehicles from the Government House before handing over control of the state to him.
According to the governor, his predecessor sold all of the Government House’s official vehicles, refrigerators, television sets, and other items.
The EFCC, however, stated in a statement on Sunday that despite all of the allegations, the former governor had not been declared wanted.
The anti-corruption agency called the Tribune report “incorrect.”
The statement reads: “The attention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has been drawn to a report, entitled, Alleged N70b Fraud: EFCC Declares Ex-Zamfara Gov, Matawalle Wanted, which appeared in the Sunday Tribune of June 18, 2023 and purports that the Commission had declared a former Zamafara State governor, Bello Matawalle wanted and requested the Department of State Service, DSS, to arrest him, “anywhere he is seen”.
“Without prejudice to the case involving the former governor, the report is incorrect as the Commission has yet to declare Matawalle wanted or solicit the assistance of any Agency, including the DSS, to effect his arrest.
“The Commission has standard procedure for declaring persons wanted and communicating same to the public, not through faceless “security sources”.
