EFCC declares Matawalle wanted

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has declared the immediate past governor of Zamfara, Bello Matawalle, wanted over alleged corruption while in office.

A top security source confided in Sunday Tribune that the EFCC, on Saturday, asked the Department of State Services (DSS) to arrest Matawalle “anywhere he is seen” in the country.

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, an allegation that the anti-graft agency denied.

Matawalle, who had made the allegation in a Hausa Service interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), had pilloried the EFCC for going after governors while ignoring federal officials with big budgetary allocations.

In denying the allegation, 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.

Sunday Tribune investigation revealed that the ex-governor might have gone into hiding for fear of being nabbed by the anti-graft agency.

“Have you seen him anywhere lately?” asked rhetorically by a security official while responding to Sunday Tribune’s enquiry about the development.