Politics apart, there is no other earthly reason for the continued stay of Alhaji Mohammed Bello Matawalle, President Bola Tinubu’s Minister of State for Defence, in office.

Matawalle is the immediate past Governor of Zamfara, one of the poorest states in the federation. The minister shot into political prominence by sheer fluke. He was the governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, in 2019. He came second in the election, but benefited from the wholesale disqualification of all candidates of the otherwise victorious All Progressives Congress, APC, by the courts. The APC earned this legal penance because of constitutional violations.

Matawalle’s reign as governor over the next four years was marred by scandals. For instance, he was the first of the North West governors to offer money to bandit terrorists who had seized ungoverned spaces killing, kidnapping for ransom, cattle-rustling, sacking communities and carving out fiefdoms for their gangs. This harebrained strategy only ended up strengthening the arsenals and resolve of the criminals to expand their areas of influence.

Indeed, in July 2022, a bandit kingpin, Ado Aleru, who was wanted by the Police, was given a prestigious traditional title by Alhaji Aliyu Marafa, the Emir of Birnin Yandoto in Tsafe LGA. Matawalle strengthened his political position by defecting to the APC where he ran for his second term and was defeated by Alhaji Dauda Lawal of the PDP. Matawalle swore that former President Muhammadu Buhari was responsible for his loss because he had joined Governors Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State and Yahaya Bello of Kogi State to sue the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Buhari and the Federal Government over the controversial naira policy earlier this year. Tinubu had seen the naira policy as aimed at undercutting him.

Yet, it was obviously Matawalle’s role in the suit that earned him a place in Tinubu’s cabinet which appears primarily configured for political appeasement. Though morally-compromised individuals populate various levels of political power in the country, Matawalle’s case is particularly untidy because he and EFCC traded accusations, under Abdulrasheed Bawa. While the EFCC accused Matawalle of diverting N70 billion from the coffers of Zamfara State, the former governor counter-accused Bawa of demanding $2m bribe from him.

The case went under the radar when Bawa was arrested, detained and later released by the Tinubu government. However, another crop of criminal allegations against Matawalle soon cropped up. He was accused of stealing 50 cars belonging to the state government. Already, the Police say they have recovered many of the cars from the minister.

If morality still counts in today’s Nigeria, Matawalle must go and honour his date with the law. (The Guardian)

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