Matawalle demands EFCC’s investigation of all public officers, not just outgoing governors

The Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle, on Wednesday, urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) not to limit its focus on the ongoing anti-corruption campaign to the outgoing governors.

He was reacting to a statement credited to the EFCC chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, on the anti-graft campaign.

Bawa had in a chat with journalists recently said the outgoing governors and other public officials would account for their actions in office after the May 29 handover in states across the country.

However, in a statement in Gusau, Matawalle urged the commission to undertake a holistic investigation into the activities of all public officials in Nigeria.

The statement read: “My attention has been drawn to a statement credited to the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Malam Abdulrasheed Bawa, in which he claimed he has sent invitations to all outgoing governors and commissioners in a bid to commence investigation into alleged corruption and abuse of office perpetrated by them while in office.

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“While this is appropriate and commendable because it’s important for political office holders to account for their actions in office and EFCC is imbued with the power of investigation, however, this power must be exercised judiciously.

“The investigation must be holistic and not selective. This is counterproductive to the anti-corruption crusade itself, that is if Malam Bawa is actually committed to one.

“In a bid to help the obvious knowledge gap exhibited by the EFCC Chair, the probe should be all-embracing and cover all officers.”

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