The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has received a message. Zamfara state’s governor, Bello Matawalle, sent the message.
The governor urged the anti-graft organization to target members of the outgoing Federal Executive Council (FEC) and presidential appointees.
This was said by Matawalle in response to a statement attributed to Abdulrasheed Bawa, head of the anti-graft agency.
The head of the EFCC previously stated that invitations had been sent to all departing governors and commissioners in an effort to start an investigation.
The governor, however, argued that such an investigation ought to extend to those working at the Presidential Villa as well, not just the departing governors and commissioners.
He pleaded with the EFCC chairman to make sure the investigation was conducted impartially and that all those found to be involved in corruption were prosecuted.
Governor’s statement:
My attention has been drawn to a statement attributed to Malam Abdulrasheed Bawa, the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, in which he claimed he had invited all departing governors and commissioners in an effort to start an investigation into claims of corruption and abuse of power committed by them while in office.
“While this is appropriate and laudable—political office holders need to be held accountable for their actions while in office, and the EFCC is endowed with the power of investigation—this power must be used carefully.
“The investigation must be comprehensive and not biased. In this regard, the EFCC Chair’s most recent invitations and statements are unbalanced, deficient, hypocritical, and unnecessarily skewed.
“If Malam Bawa is actually committed to an anti-corruption crusade, then this is counterproductive to the crusade itself.
“The investigation should be comprehensive and include all officers in an effort to address the obvious knowledge gap and inertia displayed by the EFCC Chair.
I demand that the EFCC chair extend comparable invitations to members of the Federal Executive Council and officers of the Presidency, which is the nation’s highest level of government.
