The Civil Society Advocacy Groups for Accountability and Probity has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to with immediate effect sack the Minister of Defence, Bello Matawalle, following allegations of his corrupt practices and embezzlement of state funds running into billions of naira while he was governor of Zamfara State.

Addressing newsmen on Sunday in Abuja, National Coordinator of the CSO, Danesi Momoh insisted that Matawalle could no longer be trusted with public funds not alone Nigeria’s defence, as he has been unable to render account of the multi-billion naira Gusau International Cargo Airport.

While calling on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to probe Matawalle on the alleged misuse of the N11 billion cargo airport fund, the group noted that recovering the embezzled funds would go a long way to develop the state after the horrendous attacks of bandits and the poverty it has caused.

He said: “We are also aware that in his capacity as Minister of State for Defence, Matawalle has decided to politicise the banditry and terrorism attacks in his home State of Zamfara.

“He has not officially visited the State to assess the security situation but rather chose to embark on military tourism in faraway Turkey while blocking the Governor of Zamfara State from meeting Mr President on this burning issue.

“On the heels of these unsavoury developments, we call on Mr. President to demonstrate the right action in promoting the fight against corruption and theft in public office.

“People like Bello Matawelle must be shown the exit from public service and made to pay for their wrongs to serve as a deterrent to others. Allowing him to remain in office is like rewarding corruption by an administration that has shown both the determination and political will to fight corruption.

“Such a contradiction will not augur well for our democracy and the renewed hope agenda of the administration. We, therefore, call on Mr President to salvage the good image of the administration and help Zamfara State recover her looted funds by sacking Bello Matawelle and submitting him to the EFCC to answer for his misdeeds.

“For an administration that rode off the waves of integrity and the need to fight corruption, identifying with a man of questionable character like Bello Matawalle is a direct mockery of the expectations of Nigerians and as believers of President Tinubu’s vision, we cannot fold our hands and watch this ignoble development continue to fester.

“It might be recalled that many well-meaning Nigerians were vehemently opposed to Matawelle’s appointment as a Minister of the Federal Republic following his antecedents as the Governor of Zamfara State.

“It is obvious that if allowed to remain in office, Matawelle will introduce his crooked gimmicks in contract racketeering in the Ministry of defence which has always been known for its impeccable handling of procurement because of the sensitivity of its mandate.

“For a man who once said the cost of the Cargo Airport in Gusau was ₦28 billion and then quickly reduced it to ₦11 billion in round figures, there is no way Nigerians will not be convinced that Matawlle was both the contractor and the awarding institution.

“No reputable bidder would agree to a drastic reduction of 61% in cost without a corresponding reduction in the scope of work. This indeed raises questions about the integrity of the bidding process, if there was indeed any at all.

“The earlier Matawelle is sacked out of office by your good government, the better. For a serial cheat and deceitful person to be allowed to hold office when men of integrity with requisite qualifications are left out is shameful.

“His claim that Contract Financing Facility (CFF) was used for the Cargo Airport whereas he actually paid upfront for the project from state funds goes to show that he had forgotten that he was bound by the Procurement Act and was giving ‘loans’ to his companies and proxies.

“Since CFF is done between banks and contractors without the involvement of the government, Matawelle dubiously assumed himself as a bank, giving loans to contractors without recourse to laid down regulations.

“Contrary to claims that payments for the Cargo Airport and other contracts were made to the contractor solely based on certificates issued by the supervising ministries or agencies, records clearly show that all payments made to contractors were done in Zamfara State under Bello Matawelle were not based on an accurate assessment of the work done and also not certified by the supervising ministries,” he added.

He further said, ”Specifically concerning the Cargo Airport, an initial advance payment was made to the contractors representing 30 per cent of the total contract in the sum of N3,465,569,736.90 without the approval of the designs and bills of quantities of the project by relevant government departments on the 19th of June 2020 almost 11 months after the award. Matawelle also gave a loan of ₦2,310,379,824.60 to the contractors shortly after the initial payment.

“Despite this humongous sums, none of the work listed as being done at the airport including the dual carriageway linking the airport to the town has been done. This is fraud and must be checkmated by first sacking Bello Matawelle as a Minister to pave the way for independent investigations by relevant authorities.

“For a project that is only 19.47% completed, equivalent to ₦2.25 billion, one wonders why the Cargo Airport contractor was paid the sum of ₦6.78 billion. Obviously, Bello Matawalle thought he could confuse Nigerians by saying the project was 50-100% completed to justify his thievery,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Defence, Bello Matawalle, in a statement signed by his Commissioner of information Ibrahim Dosara, insisted that the allegations were a calculated mischief and diversionary tactics by the current Governor of Zamfara State, Dauda Lawal, to cover up for his inefficiency.

He insisted that he inherited the cargo Airport project contract from its predecessor adding that his resolve to go ahead with the project was in the best interest of the people of the state.

Matawalle said: “As government is a continuous process, former Gov Matawalle saw the need to consider completing the project for its numerous benefits to the people of the state and beyond. I want to bring to the attention of the general public that it is only Zamfara State that has no an Airport of its own, up to the time of this press statement.

“After due deliberations in council, it was agreed that the project be continued. As a follow-up to the state Executive Council’s resolution and decision on the project, contractors were invited to bid for the contract to execute the Cargo Airport Project. After reaching an agreement and in consultation with the Federal Airport Authority the Matawalle government immediately mobilized the contractors to site to handle the project to its timely completion.

“In the first instance, a bill of 28, 000, 000, 000 (Twenty-eight Billion Naira ) was submitted to the government for consideration. However, due to the foresight and prudence of the former Gov Matawalle, his government rejected the bill which the former Gov considered outrageous and crazy. The former Gov therefore insisted that the amount be reviewed to a considerable sum, which was downsized to 11, 000, 000, 000 (Eleven Billion Naira only ).

“For those who are unaware of the funding process of this project, let me bring it to your knowledge that the project was being funded through a banking arrangement known as “Contract financing”.

“This means an agreement between the Zamfara State government and some private companies involving funding banks who released money only on the satisfaction that the certificates raised by the government are commensurate to the works done on site. Mr Lawal Dare been an expert banker knows what this means.”

“I wonder how monies meant for the project under this banking arrangement could have been embezzled by the former Governor. For the record, the following compartments of the contract were carried out and have reached various stages of completion as follows: Access Roads -Airport access dual road, Gate and Drainages have all been completed with an environment assessment by the Federal Ministry of Aviation carried out and completed,” he added. (New Telegraph)