The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has said it would consider the fresh petition it recently received over the alleged N70bn corruption case of Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle.

The EFCC’s acting Director of Public Affairs, Wilson Uwajuren, stated this while addressing protesters under the aegis of the APC Akida Forum who were at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja on Friday to demand the reopening of the pending case.

On May 18, 2023, the EFCC, through its Director, Media and Publicity Affairs, Osita Nwajah, had said it was probing corruption activities, award of phantom contracts, and diversion of over N70bn allegedly carried out by the minister during his tenure as Zamfara State governor between 2019 and 2023.

Recall that members of the Zamfara Alternative Forum had staged a protest at the EFCC headquarters in January, asking the Commission to probe the financial activities of the former governor.

But presenting a copy of their petition to the EFCC on Friday, the Chairman of the APC Akida Forum, Musa Mahmud, said the commission should reopen and intensify efforts on the investigation.

He said the call came amidst growing concerns about corruption in Nigeria and the bold steps taken by the APC administration regarding government officials suspected of embezzlement, including former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello, among others.

Responding, Uwajuren said that the anti-graft agency would consider the fresh petition and take concrete action on it.

He said, “I want to commend members of the APC Akida Forum for this peaceful protest. It is within your rights to protest. The constitution guarantees the right of free expression and you have done that today. I want to assure you all that the EFCC does not close cases. Once we open an investigation into a case, we do not close such a matter. So I assure you that this petition will be looked into. Thank you very much.”

PUNCH