APC Youths Protest At EFCC, Demand Matawalle’s Probe Over N70bn Fraud
Youths under the All Progressives Congress Young Leaders Alliance (APC-YLA) on Friday stormed the Abuja headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), demanding the immediate investigation of Nigeria’s Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, over alleged N70 billion fraud.
The protesters, who identified as a Kaduna-based socio-political pressure group, accused the EFCC of deliberately ignoring several corruption allegations against the former Zamfara State governor.
Chanting anti-corruption slogans and carrying placards, they accused the EFCC of silence on credible petitions detailing how Matawalle allegedly diverted public funds between 2019 and 2023 while serving as governor.
“We write to formally request that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) reopen the investigation into allegations of corruption against Bello Mohammed Matawalle, minister of state for defence,” the group stated in a letter submitted to EFCC officials.
They criticised Matawalle’s recent television interview in which he claimed his administration never received anything close to N70 billion, describing it as “a desperate lie,” and pointing to official budget and financial documents that contradict the claim.
Speaking to journalists, APC-YLA spokesperson Mohammed Ireyi said, “If former governors and ministers like Betta Edu, Yahaya Bello and Darius Ishaku have been investigated or arrested, why is Matawalle being shielded? Who is stopping the EFCC from doing its job?”
He also referenced a 2023 statement by Osita Nwajah, former EFCC spokesperson, who had said the agency was probing Matawalle for “monumental corruption, award of phantom contracts and diversion of over N70 billion”.
Ireyi added, “The EFCC must prove to Nigerians that it is not just a tool used to hound political enemies while shielding loyalists of the current administration.”
The protest letter was received by Idowu Adedeji, acting director of security at the EFCC, who promised to forward it to the appropriate quarters.
Although the EFCC had in May 2024 pledged to conduct a thorough investigation into the matter, the protesters said the lack of visible action casts doubt on the commission’s credibility.
Matawalle, who governed Zamfara State from 2019 to 2023, was appointed by President Bola Tinubu as Minister of State for Defence, a position critics say now shields him from accountability.
Sodiq Yusuf is a trained media practitioner and journalist with considerable years of experience in print, broadcast, and digital journalism. His interests cover a wide range of causes in politics, governance, sports, community development, and good governance.
