Former Governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, dealt a serious blow to the reputation of the now-suspended EFCC Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, when in a BBC Hausa interview, he accused him of demanding a $ 2 million bribe likely to compromise internal operations.
Matawalle whose consequential media battle with Bawa failed to result in a lawsuit as many ordinarily expected if the latter was intent on clearing his name, asserted boldly that he had evidence of the bribery demand, including details of the location where the secret meeting was held.
He said, “He requested a bribe of $2 million from me, and I have evidence of this. He knows the house we met, he invited me and told me the conditions. He told me governors were going to his office, but I did not. If I don’t have evidence, I won’t say this.”
The former governor went on to say that he had confidential accounts of other individuals who Bawa similarly approached for a bribe, either to influence ongoing investigations of them at the anti-corruption agency or prevent one from being launched.
“If he exits office, people will surely know he is not an honest person. I have evidence against him. Let him vacate office. I am telling you, within 10 seconds, probably more than 200 people will bring evidence of the bribe he collected from them. He knows what he requested from me, but I declined.”
Bawa’s suspension by President Tinubu may open the floodgate of other allegations, this time to an investigative body set up to x-ray the claims and bring charges against him if found culpable.