Bello Matawalle, the governor of Zamfara State, has asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday to broaden the scope of its ongoing anti-corruption drive beyond the departing governors.
He was responding to a comment on the anti-graft effort that was attributed to Abdulrasheed Bawa, the head of the EFCC.
In a recent interview with the media, Bawa stated that following the May 29 turnover of power in states across the nation, departed governors and other public officials will be held accountable for their acts while in office.
Matawalle, however, requested the panel to conduct a comprehensive probe into the actions of all Nigerian public officials in a statement in Gusau.
The statement read: “My attention has been drawn to a statement credited to the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Malam Abdulrasheed Bawa, in which he claimed he has sent invitations to all outgoing governors and commissioners in a bid to commence investigation into alleged corruption and abuse of office perpetrated by them while in office.
“While this is appropriate and commendable because it’s important for political office holders to account for their actions in office and EFCC is imbued with the power of investigation, however, this power must be exercised judiciously.
“The investigation must be holistic and not selective. This is counterproductive to the anti-corruption crusade itself, that is if Malam Bawa is actually committed to one.
“In a bid to help the obvious knowledge gap exhibited by the EFCC Chair, the probe should be all-embracing and cover all officers.”
