The Spokesperson to the former Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle, Comrade Anas Abdullahi Kaura, has denied allegations that his principal stole the state funds while in office.
Kaura while responding to a report that claimed that his boss, Matawallen Maradun, squandered and embezzled money from the state coffers said the accusations made against his boss were baseless and nothing but political witch-hunting, urging those behind the allegations to desist or face legal consequences.
The Quest Times reports that a group of individuals, who according to Anas were non-indigenes of Zamfara, staged a protest outside the headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Abuja, calling for the arrest of Matawalle.
But in a bid to defend his former boss, Anas claimed the protesters were hired to tarnish the reputation of Muhammad Bello Matawallen Maradun.
Speaking after the protest, Anas reiterated that no funds were misappropriated during Matawallen Maradun’s time in office. He further stated that the former governor had made personal sacrifices for the benefit of Zamfara State, including stepping down from his position to support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the recently concluded 2023 presidential election.
According to Anas, the protest was orchestrated by a contractor from Benue State with limited knowledge of Zamfara’s governance and politics. Additionally, he stated that reports indicate that the current Secretary of the Zamfara State Government and the Chief of Staff of the state governor’s office were the sponsors of this protest.
He said, “reports from indicate that the demonstration was spearheaded by one popular contractor from Benue state, that lacks knowledge of Zamfara governance and politics. In the same vein, an inside report reveals that it was the Zamfara state government’s current secretary and the chief of staff of the state governor’s office who sponsored this protest.
“This is nothing but a blatant campaign to tarnish the image of Matawalle, that is why they are so eager to do so by hiring non-indigenes of the state to carry out this mayhem.
“We are sure that, there is no Zamfara state indigene, big or small that will come out and protest against Muhammad Bello Matawallen Maradun, who sacrificed his life for the state when they needed him the most.
“If it’s true that they want EFCC to invite and grills the former governor of Zamfara state, Bello Matawallen Maradun, why shouldn’t they call for the commission to arrest and investigate former ministers of Buhari’s cabinet?
“Everyone knows that Buhari’s integrity is second to none, but in the history of Nigeria right from 1999 to date, no government has witnessed horrendous public fund embezzlement than Buhari’s government.
“And why shouldn’t they call on EFCC to investigate and grill other former governors, but called for the arrest of Bello Matawalle only? This is to say that, it’s nothing but political witch-hunting.
“Conclusively, we call on EFCC to work jointly with Defense security services (DSS) to get reliable and correct first-hand information on the current investigation of the former Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Godwin Emefiele.
“Because, we believe that Godwin Emefiele and the current governor of Zamfara state, Dr Dauda Lawal Dare are partners in monetary transactions.”