The President Bola Tinubu-led government on Thursday defended the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, who is being linked with terrorism in the country.
Matawalle was alleged to have procured vehicles for bandits leaders, including a notorious kingpin, Bello Turji, and others while serving as Zamfara State Governor.
The current State Governor of Zamfara State, Dauda Lawal who recently appeared on a national television station, had urged the minister to resign.
He had said, “If I were him (Matawalle), I would resign and face all the allegations against me because, from all the information we are getting, my predecessor was fully involved in some of this banditry.”
Matawalle, however, had denied the allegations levelled against him by Governor Lawal that he is behind banditry in the state.
However, Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information & Strategy during an interview on Arise Television on Thursday, monitored by SaharaReporters, described the allegations as political.
He affirmed that the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, had investigated some of the allegations and they were found to be bare allegations.
He said; “As far that I know, most of those things are just mere allegations, they have been probed. People are just bringing out some fake allegations about him, that is why the man is still there.”
“Infact one of them I got was sent to National Security Adviser, NSA. But NSA said it has already investigated some of the allegations and they were found to be mere allegations. It’s political,” Onanuga noted.
