A political group in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), APC AKIDA FORUM has stormed the headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) in Abuja on Monday.
The members of the group who matched to the EFCC headquarters in thousandals submitted a petition to the commission, seeking a probe into alleged embezzlement of over N390 billion meant for FAAC and JAAC allocations within four years.
Bello Matawalle was the governor of Zamfara State from 2019 to 2023.
Read the full petition below:
WE SEEK THE EFCC TO PROBE FORMER GOV. BELLO MATAWALLE TO ACCOUNT FOR OVER N290 BILLION FAAC, N133 BILLION JAAC FROM 2019 – 2023, AND N105 BILLION LOAN HE TOOK AS ZAMFARA STATE GOVERNOR.
We are the APC Akida Forum, a socio-political pressure group headquartered in Kaduna State.
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.
The commission has shown determination and persistence in addressing corrupt officials, particularly by promptly taking action against former minister Betta Edu and others.
We have witnessed the commission launch an investigation into the alleged corruption of former Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State. Last Friday, the commissioner arrested former Governor Darius Ishaku of Taraba State over alleged corruption.
If all these former governors and ministers were not above the law and EFCC, who would shield the former governor of Zamfara State from investigation?
We have gathered facts and figures regarding Bello Matawalle’s alleged embezzlement of billions of Naira. He reportedly needs to account for over N290 billion from the FAAC and N133 billion from the JAAC that he received from 2019 to 2023. Additionally, he is also expected to explain the N105 billion loan he took during his tenure as the governor of Zamfara state.
These are not mere allegations or speculations. After our last visit to this commission’s headquarters, we thought the investigation would reopen, but nothing has happened.
We are confident that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has access to all the facts regarding financial crimes in the country. Nevertheless, we feel it is necessary to determine the total funds that the Zamfara State Government received between 2019 and 2023 under Bello Matawalle.
WWe are making these efforts because, to our dismay, the former governor appeared on a live TV program, misleading the public that he did not receive anything close to N70 Billion Naira during his four-year tenure as governor of Zamfara State.
The facts below contradict Bello Matawalle’s statements, and the EFCC should investigate him to account for the funds.
