Matawalle’s motor-mania

The August 8th 2025 judgment of the Court of Appeal in Sokoto that upheld the verdict of the Federal High Court dismissing an appeal filed by the Minister of State for Defence and former Zamfara State governor, Bello Muhammad Matawalle, over the ownership of more than 40 official vehicles seized from him after he left office brings to the fore the absolute absence of shame in so many public office holders. Is there any wonder that a man who has been fighting to keep looted property for the last two years could not contribute to curtailing rabid banditry even in his native Maradun Local Government Area?

Matawalle who was defeated by Governor Dauda Lawal in the 2023 governorship election in Zamfara State allegedly carted away the vehicles before handing over power on 29^th May, 2023. In June 2023, based on a complaint by the Zamfara State Government, the Zamfara State Police command raided the residence of the former governor, seizing more than 40 official vehicles he and his cabinet members apparently hauled away.

The Court of Appeal held that the decision of the Federal High Court Sokoto on the right of the Police to investigate allegations of commission of crime was correct. It further held that Bello Matawalle failed to adduce credible evidence to support his claim of ownership of the 40 vehicles recovered from his residence, as such lacks justification to allege that his fundamental right to own property has been breached.

What is worse is the series of other investigated indictments. Earlier on May 8^th 2025, members of the All Progressives Congress Young Leaders Alliance (APC-YLA) picketed the headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Abuja demanding for the immediate resumption of investigations into alleged corruption involving Bello Matawalle. The socio-political pressure organisation accused the EFCC of muting the case despite multiple petitions and earlier commitments to investigate the former Zamfara governor.

They alleged that Matawalle misled the public when he claimed during a recent live television appearance that his administration did not receive anything close to N70 billion throughout its four-year duration. They added that official records and financial statements from the period directly contradict the minister’s public claim. Mohammed Ireyi, spokesperson of the APC-YLA, said the EFCC’s selective silence on the case cast doubts about neutrality in the agency’s operations.

Raising the question of who is stopping the EFCC from doing its job, the group also referenced a May 2023 statement by the EFCC’s then spokesperson, Osita Nwajah, who confirmed that the commission was probing Matawalle over “monumental corruption, award of phantom contracts and diversion of over N70 billion.” The APC-YLA urged the commission to resume the probe to “uphold its credibility and neutrality in the fight against corruption in Nigeria.”

In another case, the Concerned Northern Forum (CNF) accused Matawalle of embezzling over N528bn during his tenure as Governor of Zamfara State from 2019 to 2023. The group, led by its chairman, Alhaji Aliyu Sani, blamed Matawalle for mismanaging N290bn from the Federation Account Allocation Committee, N133bn Joint Account Allocation Committee and N105bn domestic loans. The latter sum, which was a loan from an old-generation bank, purportedly for the execution of projects across the local government areas of the state, was allegedly “diverted by the governor through proxies and contractors who received payment for contracts that were not executed.” The CNF expressed frustration that despite submitting petitions to the EFCC -including those dated May 3, 2024, and September 30, 2024 – the commission had yet to act.

Similarly, in September last year, protesters under the aegis of the APC Akida Forum had gathered at the EFCC headquarters to lodge a petition, urging the commission to proceed with its investigation of Matawalle. Speaking on behalf of the group at the EFCC headquarters, Musa Mahmud noted that they had confidence in the anti-graft agency under the new leadership of Mr Ola Olukoyede.

That all these petitions and purported investigations are yet to result into indictments is possibly because Matawalle emerged a minister in the administration of President Bola Tinubu. In the same manner, active investigations of former APC national chairman Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and incumbent Senate President Godswill Akpabio among others have gone totally cold. After all, a former chairman of the ruling party, Mr Adam Oshiomole had infamously declared that those who join and work for the APC may be spared the searchlight of anti-corruption agencies.

Now that the Court of Appeal has ruled on at least one of the various accusations against Matawalle, Nigerians expect the Federal Government to ditch the Minister and allow him and all those with cases against them to face justice. Anything short of this will send a clear message to citizens that the APC is not a neutral party in the fight against corruption. It should not take a soothsayer to show that this truculent attitude will impugn the integrity of the current administration and cost it votes in the upcoming 2027 general elections.