The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission stated that it will look into the new complaint it received about the alleged N70bn corruption case involving Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle.
The EFCC’s acting Director of Public Affairs, Wilson Uwajuren, mentioned this while speaking to protesters from the APC Akida Forum who were at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja on Friday, demanding the reopening of the pending case.
On May 18, 2023, the EFCC had announced that it was investigating corruption activities, award of phantom contracts, and diversion of over N70bn allegedly carried out by the minister during his time as Zamfara State governor between 2019 and 2023.
Members of the Zamfara Alternative Forum had previously protested at the EFCC headquarters in January, asking the Commission to investigate the financial activities of the former governor.
However, the Chairman of the APC Akida Forum, Musa Mahmud, presented a copy of their complaint to the EFCC on Friday, urging the commission to reopen and intensify efforts on the investigation.
He said the call came amidst growing concerns about corruption in Nigeria and the firm actions taken by the APC administration regarding government officials suspected of embezzlement, including former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello, among others.
In response, Uwajuren stated that the anti-graft agency would consider the new complaint and take concrete action on it.
He mentioned, “I want to commend members of the APC Akida Forum for this peaceful protest. It is within your rights to protest. The constitution guarantees the right of free expression and you have done that today. I want to assure you all that the EFCC does not close cases. Once we open an investigation into a case, we do not close such a matter. So I assure you that this petition will be looked into. Thank you very much.”
