The President-elect, Bola Tinubu, is said to be unhappy at the outbursts of the Governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, against the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa.
Matawalle has continued a series of offensives against Bawa, culminating in a May 19 bombshell that the latter was investigating him because he refused to accede to a request of $2m bribe.
The outgoing Zamfara State governor had made the revelation during an interview with the BBC Hausa where he said Bawa was corrupt and could not be trusted with the fight against corruption.
During the interview, Matawalle did not hide his anger at Bawa for investigating governors and allegedly sparing ministers and other members of the Federal Executive Council.
“It is not just to always blame governors. It is not only governors who have treasury, the federal government also has. What does the EFCC boss do to them? As he is claiming he has evidence on governors, let him show the world evidence of those at the federal level,” he had told the BBC.
But Tinubu, who returned to the country on Saturday from France, and found himself in the storm created by Matawalle, has reportedly chided the outgoing governor and described his outbursts against Bawa as “unwarranted and unhelpful,” saying the development was “an embarrassment” to the ruling All Progressive Congress.
A reliable source close to the President-elect, while putting the matter in perspective, revealed that Matawalle appeared to have gone on the offensive against Bawa out of frustration that he lost his bid for re-election, and he sees President Muhammadu Buhari and Bawa as responsible for his defeat at the polls.
Statements from Matawalle since after the governorship elections appear to confirm his alleged frustration. After conceding defeat and asking for the forgiveness of those he may have hurt, he later began to blame the Federal Government’s Naira Redesign policy and the Nigerian Military for allegedly invading the state on election day.
The outgoing governor gave the impression of a politician that is unable to handle defeat, forcing The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights (CALSER) to issue a statement in March describing him as “a loose canon” due to what it called “bizzare statements “ on the election coming from the governor.
CALSER also accused the governor of trying to ingratiate himself with the President-elect by saying things he thought he would like.
Our source said while Tinubu had misgivings about the Naira redesign and how it may affect voter turnout in the February 25 presidential election, the President-elect is not holding anyone responsible and “would study the brief that are handed to him” before taking any action.
Source: THE WHISTLER
