May 19, (THEWILL) – Zamfara State governor, Bello Matawalle, has claimed that the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, allegedly requested $2 million bribe from him.
Matawalle made the claims in an interview on BBC Hausa.
The latest allegation comes amid the growing rift between Matawalle and the EFCC boss.
THEWILL earlier reported that Governor Matawalle, in a statement on Wednesday, called for Bawa’s resignation, saying he had questions to answer on corruption.
But the EFCC Chairman replied that he had nothing to hide and asked Matawalle to petition appropriate authorities if he had any evidence against him.
The anti-graft agency on Thursday, said it is investigating Matawalle for allegedly diverting N70 billion meant for contracts in Zamfara state.
But speaking on BBC Hausa, the Governor accused the chairman of the EFCC of allegedly demanding $2 million as bribe from him, adding that he has evidence against the EFCC boss.
“It is not just to always blame governors. It is not only governors who have treasury, the federal government also has.
“What does the EFCC boss do to them? As he is claiming he has evidence on governors, let him show to the world evidence of those at the federal level.
“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 evidences of bribe he collected from them. He knows what he requested from me, but I declined.
“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”, Matawalle said in the interview.
