“We Have Not Declared Governor Matawalle Wanted” – EFCC

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has denied reports that former Governor of Zamfara State, Northwest Nigeria, Bello Matawalle, was declared wanted.

Gatekeepers News reports that the EFCC made the denial in a statement issued on Sunday.

A few days to the end of his tenure, Matawalle had accused the now suspended EFCC chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, of demanding a $2m bribe from him.

Matawalle, in an interview with BBC, also knocked the EFCC for going after governors while ignoring federal officials with big budgetary allocations.

In denying the allegations, the EFCC said it was investigating Matawalle for allegedly siphoning state funds running to N70 billion through unexecuted contracts awarded to his cronies and for which money was received.

The Zamfara State governor, Dauda Lawal, also accused Matawalle of stealing official vehicles from the Government House before handing over the state’s leadership to him.

The governor said his predecessor sold all the official vehicles, refrigerators, television sets and other items in the Government House.

EFCC in the statement noted that despite all the allegations, the former governor was not declared wanted.

The anti-graft agency described the report from Tribune as 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”.