By Suleiman Anyalewechi
The North West Zone of the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, has given the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, till April 14 2024, to provide demonstrable and concrete evidence to support its claim that the Minister of State Defence and immediate past Governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Bello Matawale, distributed Federal Government’s palliatives to some banditry sects in Zamfara or risk a legal action.
At a press Conference in Kaduna Sunday, March 31,2024 Musa Mailafiya Mada, Northwest APC Publicity Secretary, warned that the grievous allegation against the person and office of the Minister of State, Defence, cannot be swept under the carpet. They insisted that some already identified PDP elements behind the campaign of calumny must substantiate their allegations.
The Source reports that in the last two days some sundry groups in Zamfara State, in particular, and the Northern region have consistently accused Alhaji Matawalle of offering subtle support to some banditry groups, believed to be at the root of the surge in insecurities both in the State and the entire Northern Nigeria .
Specifically, the Minister of Defence State,was recently alleged to have given a sizable part of Federal Government palliatives to the bandits in the State.
But Mada said going by the trajectory of, and PDP penchant for the sponsorship of slanderous publications against the immediate past Governor of Zamfara State, it will not allow this present case to be treated with levity.
“As a party, APC concedes that slandering any of our members with ulterior motives is as good as attacking the structural foundation of our great party which is intolerable let alone defaming the character and questioning the integrity of our leaders who have earned their reputation through selfless service to the people .
“While we welcome constructive opposition in line with the constitutionally provided freedom of speech, we will not condone any attempt by any persons and or groups to pour unwarranted vituperations on our leaders,.Mada warned.
“According to him ,the series of attacks on Matawalle which he claimed began on Thursday March 28 through Friday March 29 ,the is undoubtedly the handiwork of some individuals very much close and related to PDP chieftains and those in the corridors of power in Zamfara state .
“We have particular suspects ,and we are confident that we will get hold of the evidences that will be used against them in court at the appropriate time..
“This grievous allegation can never be over looked . The sponsors must substantiate the alleged Food items distributions to bandits ,and or tender an apology to the Minister of Defence ( state) Dr Bello Muhammad Matawalle in at least two National Newspapers within two weeks from today ( March 31)
“If no action is taken by the sponsors of the false publications against Matawalle before the dateline of April 14 2024 ,a legal action will be instituted against them” the APC Northwest Spokesperson warned.
