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  • Matawalle attends second counter terrorism coalition meeting in Saudi Arabia

    Matawalle attends second counter terrorism coalition meeting in Saudi Arabia

    The Minister of State for Defence, Mohammed Bello Matawalle, is in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, along with defence ministers from other countries to attend the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition (IMCTC) meeting.

    The ministers are at the meeting to  discuss the urgent need for collaborative action in the fight against terrorism. 

    A statement from the Nigeria minister’s office said the discussions at the meeting has further strengthened the resolve of Nigeria and other members of the coalition to stand side-by-side in combating terrorism threat.

    According to the statement, discussions at the meeting revolved around counter-terrorism strategies, strengthening intelligence sharing mechanisms, and dismantling the intricate web of transnational terrorist networks. 

    It said the meeting provided a vital platform for thought-provoking exchanges and practical solutions to enhance international cooperation and bolster joint efforts against terrorism.

    The statement  said: “Stemming from his experience as the immediate past Governor of Zamfara state, a state that is experiencing the brunt of insecurity due to activities of criminal actors, the Minister recognizes the paramount importance of solidarity and coordination in addressing the complex and ever-changing nature of terrorism. 

    “During the meeting, the minister reiterated Nigeria’s unwavering commitment to international peace and security. He highlighted the imperative of collective action and emphasized the need for a united front against terrorism, stressing that the fight against terrorism transcends national borders and requires the collaboration of every nation.

    Read Also: Matawalle in Saudi Arabia for meeting of Defence Ministers, moves to tackle insecurity

    “He  emphasised the significance of leveraging advancements in technology and innovation to enhance counter-terrorism capabilities, while also acknowledging the importance of addressing the underlying drivers of extremism.”

    The statement said the member nations of the coalition resolved at the meeting to intensify efforts in intelligence cooperation, cybersecurity, and joint training exercises. 

    “The Ministry of Defence will also work closely with coalition partners to advocate for stronger counter-terrorism measures on the global stage and ensure that those responsible for terror acts are held accountable under international law,” the statement said.

  • Matawalle in Saudi Arabia for meeting of Defence Ministers, moves to tackle insecurity

    Matawalle in Saudi Arabia for meeting of Defence Ministers, moves to tackle insecurity

    Minister of State for Defence Bello Matawalle has visited the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to attend a conference of Ministers of Defence from Africa, Europe and Arab nations.

    The meeting expected to kick off on February 2 in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, will see defence ministers from around the regions discussing strategies and issues relating to securing their respective areas.

    The Minister’s aide on new media, Yariman Ganuwa, made the visit known in a Facebook post.

    He noted the former Zamfara Governor will also take time out to perform the lesser hajj (Umrah)where he prayed for peace and success of Nigeria.

    The visit to the holy land is coming on the heels of his participation in a two-day roundtable on security in northern Nigeria organised by the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) in Abuja from

     January 24-25, 2024.

    Under the chairmanship of General Abdussalami Abubakar GCFR (Rtd), the roundtable brought together key figures to address the persistent issue of insecurity in Northern Nigeria, and the rest of the country at large.

    Notable attendees included His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto, Dr. Sa’adu Abubakar; Executive Governors from Gombe, Kaduna, Zamfara, Katsina, Bauchi, and Nasarawa and the Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar.

    Others at the event were Chief of Defence Staff, General C.G Musa; former Senate President Dr. Bukola Saraki, and the former Governor of Katsina State, Aminu Bello Masari among other notable figures from various sectors.

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    Since assumption of office as Minister of State for  Defence, Matawalle has shown a marked departure from the usual order of business, although the insecurity situation in the country is proving to be a very hard nut to crack.

    In a departure from previous administrations, Matawalle ordered an investigation into allegation of wrongdoing by a serving Chief of Naval Staff, who had been accused of using his office to carry out corrupt practices.

    Matawelle was responding to a news report, alleging the Naval Chief’s involvement in facilitating an unorganised bunkering of Nigerian crude and a multimillion-naira contract-splitting fraud.

    The online report had alleged that Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, was involved in oil theft and accusing him of releasing several oil tankers impounded for transporting stolen crude oil off Nigerian shores after receiving kickbacks in millions of dollars.

    It added that preliminary investigations estimated that Ogalla, who was appointed by the President on June 19, 2023, had accepted over $170m in bribes in the past six months.

    The online media platform noted that the log records and videos it reviewed showed several instances between September 2023 and January 2024 when the Nigerian Navy dispatched gunboats of personnel to supervise the loading of stolen crude on at least four vessels.

    Following the claims, a coalition of Concerned Nigerians petitioned President Bola Tinubu to investigate the allegations of large-scale corruption against the CONS, Vice Admiral Ogalla.

    But the Navy authorities dismissed the allegations as false. Spokesman for the Navy, Rear Admiral A.O. Ayo-Vaughan, said the allegations were untenable, baseless, untrue and sponsored by oil thieves and disgruntled elements.

    In response, Matawalle who stated that President Bola Tinubu had zero tolerance for corruption in the public service, pledged that the allegations would be investigated.

    Director, Information, Press and Public Relations of the Defence Ministry, Mr Henshaw Ogubike, quoted Matawalle as saying “though these allegations might be mischievous, the Ministry of Defence is committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity and accountability within the Nigerian Armed Forces.

    “The allegations leveled against Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla are serious.”

    Matawalle said a probe was imperative with a view to ascertaining the truth, adding: “accusations of this nature can have far-reaching consequences on the reputation of individuals and institutions, and thus, it is crucial to avoid premature judgments.

    “It is our collective responsibility to maintain the trust and confidence of the Nigerian people in the institutions that safeguard our nation’s security.

    “We call for patience as the investigative process unfolds and trust that justice will be served in accordance with the rule of law.”

  • FG woos medical student, health professionals to join military 

    FG woos medical student, health professionals to join military 

    The federal government is wooing medical students and other health professionals to join the military in order to boost the number of medical personnel in the services, and reduce the effect of japa syndrome in the service.

    The Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, said this on Tuesday December 12, during Defence Health Maintenance stakeholders meeting in Abuja.

    Matawalle, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Dr Abubakar Kana, said government is also set to build a world class veterans hospital in Abuja to cater for the health needs of retired military personnel in the country.

    He said it was part of the reform being undertaken by the government to establish the Armed Forces Medical college.

    He said: “Part of the reform is to increase the number of military medical personnel, consultants and interns. 

    “Already we have concluded arrangements to build 100 bed accomodations at 44 Reference Hospital in Kaduna for interns.

    Read Also: Gov joins military operation to rescue abducted civilian

    “This is geared towards building the armed forces medical college. This is not to just train the medical doctors but nurses and other health personnel.

    “The japa syndrome has also affected the armed forces. To solve this problem we are visiting universities to encourage medical students to join the military. We want to entice them by providing them with good incentives.

    “Before now it rare to see military personnel receive medical care outside the military hospital, but that has changed. We want to bring back that lost glory.

    “We want to build a world class medical facility for veterans in Abuja.

    “It is part of the reform of the federal government. But it is not only about the facility but also about care and strengthening the military health system in Nigeria.

    The minister said that the establishment of Defence Health Insurance is a worthwhile investment that is well positioned to provide the full length of coverage for both serving and retired military personnel, and their families.

    He said: “The role of the armed forces is to protect the integrity of Nigeria, and anybody that enrolls in the armed forces has put his or her life on the line, hence there is no need to limit the coverage of health insurance for the armed forces.

    “People that have served this country shouldn’t be paying for maintaining their health from their pockets.

    “We have written to President Bola Tinubu on the need to remove Defence Health Insurance from the National Health Insurance Scheme(NHIS), so that the Defence Health Insurance can provide full coverage for military personnel serving and retired.”

  • Matawalle to Military: Don’t let Kaduna accidental bombing deter against terrorists

    Matawalle to Military: Don’t let Kaduna accidental bombing deter against terrorists

    The Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, has urged the Nigerian military not to be deterred by the recent accidental bombing of civilians in its battle against terrorists.

    Matawalle, while condemning the incident, said that despite what has happened, the fight against insurgency and terrorism must continue.

    The minister said this when he visited the victims of the incident at Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital in Kaduna.

    Read Also: Northern elders urge Zamfara governor, Matawalle to resolve conflict

    He said: “We are not going to relent in our fight against terrorism because these criminals must be defeated. We are going to continue fighting the criminals till we succeed against banditry and other criminalities in this country.”

    A statement by the Director of Information, Henshaw Ogubike, said the minister, who was accompanied by top officials of the ministry, Badaru expressed Federal Governments’ condolences to the victims of the incident.

    He said President Bola Tinubu has directed that he lead a high-level delegation to pay a condolence visit to the good people and government of Kaduna State, as well as the families of the victims over the sad event.

  • Zamfara ex-commissioners fault N70b fraud allegation against Matawalle’s govt

    Zamfara ex-commissioners fault N70b fraud allegation against Matawalle’s govt

    A former Commissioner of Finance and Economic Planning in Zamfara State, Rabiu Garba, and his counterpart in the Ministry of Information, Ibrahim Dosara, have faulted the allegation of N70 billion fraud allegedly committed under the immediate past administration.

    Garba and Dosara, who served in the administration of Governor Bello Matawalle, described the allegation as a mischief and campaign of calumny being fuelled by agents of the incumbent administration in the state, led by Governor Lawal.

    They claimed that the said N70 billion was not diverted as being alleged but was judiciously deployed for the execution of projects across the state, which were approved by relevant agencies.

    The ex-commissioners, who spoke in Abuja, accused the current administration in the state of engaging in extra budgetary spending without the approval of the State House of Assembly.

    Garba said: “We are calling on the State House of Assembly to impeach the governor for spending outside the budget of the state.

    “He awarded a contract that is not in the budget. A budget primarily is a source document where works and services of government are going to be rendered. A budget is an act of the state assembly which the governor violated.

    “He awarded the contract that was not in the budget. There was no evidence that the contract awarded was budgeted for, because I have a copy of the budget.

    “There was no virement to support the contracts that were awarded.  There was no evidence that the virement had been received by the State House of Assembly and even, if there is, the state assembly had not attended to that issue.

    “Therefore, he was engaged in extra budgetary spending, which is an impeachable offence, and we call on them to commence impeachment proceedings against the governor.”

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    Garba alleged that the state government terminated the contract of a company engaged by the previous administration in relation to the cargo airport project and asked it to return N4.5 billion.

    “The contract was initially awarded for about N25b and has now been jacked up to N50b after the contract of the company was terminated. The company has taken the state government to court.

    Garba added: “As far as the former government of the state is concerned, we will not talk about it again. The contractor has the right to challenge termination of contract since it was duly signed and awarded.

    The allegation that contract was illegally taken by the former government of Alhaji Bello Matawalle is false.

    “EFCC went to banks and asked about the contract we executed. The Court stopped them from further investigation because they don’t have jurisdiction as it related to state funds.

    “The former Chairman of EFCC came to the conclusion that the funds were diverted from the companies to private pocket without knowing that those companies executed contracts on various projects. But he came out to say that the state government diverted N70b to 100 private companies for his personal use, which is absolutely untrue.

    “The only thing is that he cannot go to the state government and collect documents for those contracts because the court has stopped him and is desperate to nail the former governor.

    “That is the reason he came up with that revelation of N70b. The issue of N70b does not arise because N30b is for the 14 local governments and the remaining N40b is for the state government,” Garba said.

    In his contribution, Dosara said Matawalle’s administration left the state better than the current state of affairs.

    He added: “We left the state better than it is today. The state is exposed to bandits, and as things are now, the state capital, Guasau, is not spared.

    “Since May 29 when this government came into power, unnecessary IDP camps have been created.

    “The primary responsibility of protecting lives and property has not been attended to.

    “He should face governance and not allegations that cannot be substantiated.”

  • Leave Matawalle out of your predicament, analyst tells Zamfara governor

    Leave Matawalle out of your predicament, analyst tells Zamfara governor

    The governor of Zamfara, Dauda Lawal, has been urged to focus on the governance of the state rather than dissipate energy in discrediting his predecessor and minister of state for defence, Bello Matawwalle.

    The advice was given by a renowned analyst, Deyemi Saka, who said that the immediate task of the governor was to gain the confidence and cooperation of Zamfarans, saying his victory was a subject of dispute.

    He wrote: “From May 29, 2023, when Mr Dauda Lawal assumed office as the governor of Zamfara state, it has been one week, and one alarm raised. One would expect a man whose immediate task is to gain the confidence and cooperation of Zamfarans as his victory was a subject of dispute. It is one media circus or the other.

    “The first major distraction was the allegations that former Governor Bello Matawalle (in his words) had gone away with 17 vehicles from his office and those in the deputy governor’s office claiming that the vehicles were his (Matawalle) personal belongings. He made this claim while on a program on a local radio station in Gusau and further claimed office equipment was not spared,”

    “We all remember how that ended. There was a judicial pronouncement that established that such claims were frivolous, false, ridiculous, and mere exaggeration. After getting a bloodied nose and ego bruised, one would have expected Governor Dauda Lawal and his hatchet men to abandon such an unproductive agenda, but they rather got emboldened.

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    “A few weeks ago, the governor, while missing in action as female students of the Federal University Gusau were abducted from their off-campus residence at Sabo Gida village in Bungudu Local Government Area. While the federal government, through relevant security agencies, embarked on a rescue mission in a bid for Mr. Lawal to save his face because of the leadership naivety and insensitivity he demonstrated by embarking on a foreign trip and refusing to cut short his trip, it was another needless outburst which he claimed the federal government was negotiating with terrorists in the state without his knowledge.

    He further stated: “True to their antics, a faceless group named “Zamfara Circle” issued a statement signed by one Aminu M. Lawal Tsafe mischievously called for the redeployment of the Hon. Minister of State for Defence to another Ministry, Dr. Bello Muhammed Matawalle.

    “Unperturbed and undaunted by his growing unpopularity due to this political witch-hunt and ceaseless display of knowledge of the essence of governance, Gov. Dauda Lawal and his gang are back in the media with another allegation against his predecessor.

    “In a move which is not unexpected, and in a bid to excuse his poor performance since he got into office, the governor claimed the bad financial situation the current administration met in Zamfara State was caused by the past government of Bello Matawalle.

    “In a widely syndicated news report, he alleged that the former governor directed the Ministry of Local Government to withdraw N1 billion from the Local Government Joint Account on October 25, 2021, and to pay N825 million to the contractors therefrom without any valuation. He said this was in complete disregard of due process.

    The analyst stated: “If the recent statement by Mr. Lawal is anything to go by, a downward review of a contract amounts to graft. Claiming that no reputable bidder would not agree to a drastic reduction in cost while none to the scope of work is evidence of corruption is watery and childish.

    “No reputable company will like to lose a good client and its integrity by insisting on defending a proposal that is outlandish, padded, and highly inflated while putting into consideration the economic realities on the ground.

    “Governor Dauda Lawal should be reminded that the coffers of Zamfara State is not a personal bank account of Dr. Matawalle. While it is not open to any debate that as a head of government, he is responsible for the actions and inactions of his administration, this doesn’t mean things were done without recourse to extant laws of our land. Whatever amount that was paid to contractors would have been captured in the State’s Appropriation Act for the year such payment was made.

    “When the news broke that the government of the day provided evidence of embezzlement against the former governor, I was expecting hard facts and documents to back up such claims. I never expected rhetorics and the usual mudslinging. There is a need for the governor to be urged to get busy with a serious business of governance and not commit to being a wailing wailer.”

  • Matawalle: I didn’t embezzle billions from Zamfara cargo airport project

    Matawalle: I didn’t embezzle billions from Zamfara cargo airport project

    Former Governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Mohammed Bello Matawalle, has denied embezzling billions of naira from the abandoned cargo airport in Zamfara State.

    The incumbent administration of Governor Dauda Lawal Dare had recently accused the administration of Matawalle of embezzling public funds in billions.

    However, in a statement issued by Ibrahim Dosara, former Commissioner of information of the immediate past administration of Matawalle, the governor said the accusation was nothing but a calculated mischief and diversionary tactics of Governor Dauda Lawal as “he specialises in diverting people’s attention from his insensitivity, failure and inability to fulfill his campaign promises on tackling security concerns bedeviling the state immediately after his assumption of office.”

    The statement reads: “The attention of the immediate past Government of Zamfara State under Hon (Dr) Bello Mohammed Matawllen Maradun MFR, has been drawn to a press statement issued by Governor Dauda Lawal Dare in which the Governor accuses the immediate past administration of former Gov Matawalle of embezzling public funds in billions.

    “It is in response to this baseless and unfounded claim and allegation, and in order to put matters on record in their true perspective, that I wish to submit the following facts on the cargo airport project contract: The immediate past Government under Hon. Bello Mohammed Matawallen Maradun inherited the Cargo Airport Project from its predecessor.

    “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.

    Read Also: Alleged N72b fraud: Court bars EFCC, ICPC, others from probing, arresting, prosecuting Matawalle

    “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 agreement and in consultation with the Federal Airport Authority that Matawalle government immediately mobilised 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 down reviewed to considerable sum, which was down sized 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 Zamfara State Government and some private companies involving funding banks who released money only on the satisfaction that the certificates raised by government is commensurate to the works done on site. Mr Lawal Dare being 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 records, 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 environment assessment by the Federal Ministry of Aviation carried out and completed.

    “The 1.5 kilometres link road is cleared, sand-filled and compaction completed. However, in his attempt to cause mischief to the immediate past administration, Gov Dauda Lawal ordered the scrapping of the road.”

    ”Runway has been excavated, sand filling carried out with compaction of two kilometres out of the 3.4 kilometres completed as well as the clearance of one kilometre completed.

    “Taxing way of 500 metres, clearance, excavation, sand filling and compaction were carried out and completed.

    “Apron area which is 200/2 metres of 190 metres was cleared with excavation, sand filling and compaction completed. Terminal-Level iron rafter is at 50 per cent stage of completion.