Africa-Press – Nigeria. Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, vehemently refuted allegations that he could be removed as a minister through orchestrating false claims against him.
In an interview with DCL Hausa, he addressed these allegations, which were made by the Zamfara State Government.
Matawalle, who served as the governor of Zamfara State from 2019 to 2023, lost his bid for a second term in March to Mr Dauda of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He was accused by the Zamfara State Government of financial impropriety, including embezzlement related to the state cargo airport project.
Matawalle was also accused of instructing the Ministry of Local Government to withdraw N1 billion from the local government joint account on October 25, 2021, and to pay N825 million to contractors without proper valuation.
In the interview, Matawalle accused Governor Lawal of sponsoring false claims against him and stressed that the state’s challenges existed prior to his administration.
Responding to the issue of the airport road, he stated that after Dauda became governor, he initially promised to repair the airport road but instead used a bulldozer to destroy the road that Matawalle had already constructed.
According to him, “On the issue of the airport road, after Dauda became governor, he deceived the people by saying he was going to repair the airport road, only for him to take a bulldozer there and scrap the road we already constructed.”
Matawalle alleged that the state governor engaged in these actions to humiliate him and to suggest that Matawalle had not contributed to the state’s development.
He asserted that the governor had done the same with the Ruga project, despite investments made, and ultimately harmed the people of Zamfara.
The minister further argued that the current governor’s actions not only cheated the people of Zamfara but also betrayed his own responsibility to protect the lives and properties of the state’s citizens.
Matawalle clarified that one of the airport roads alone cost over N4 billion, but the governor came forward with false claims to tarnish his reputation, destroying critical infrastructure projects in the state to enable these accusations against him.
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