Momoh called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to step in and bring Matawalle and his co-travellers to justice over the alleged misuse of the N11billion-worth cargo airport fund.
The Civil Society Advocacy Group for Accountability and Probity has cautioned President Bola Tinubu over his choice of former Zamfara State governor, Bello Matawalle as minister of state for defence, saying the former governor may politicise the terrorism ravaging his state.
The advocacy group noted that Matawalle had not officially visited the state to assess the security situation because the state is now under an opposition party led by Governor Lawal Dauda.
The group National Coordinator, Danesi Momoh, at a press conference in Abuja also adduced the inability by the minister to render account of the multi-billion naira Gusau International Cargo Airport as part of reasons for call for his removal.
Momoh called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to step in and bring Matawalle and his co-travellers to justice over the alleged misuse of the N11billion-worth cargo airport fund.
He said, "We are also aware that in his capacity as Minister of State for Defence, Matawalle has decided to politicise the banditry and terrorism attacks in his home State of Zamfara.
"He has not officially visited the State to assess the security situation but rather chose to embark on military tourism in faraway Turkey while blocking the Governor of Zamfara State from meeting Mr. President on this burning issue.
"On the heels of these unsavoury developments, we call on Mr. President to demonstrate the right action in promoting the fight against corruption and theft in public office.”
"For a man who once said the cost of the Cargo Airport in Gusau was N28 billion and then quickly reduced it to N11 billion in round figures, there is no way Nigerians will not be convinced that Matawalle was both the contractor and the awarding institution.
"No reputable bidder would agree to a drastic reduction of 61% in cost without a corresponding reduction in the scope of work. This indeed raises questions about the integrity of the bidding process, if there was indeed any at all.
"His claim that Contract Financing Facility (CFF) was used for the Cargo Airport whereas he actually paid upfront for the project from state funds goes to show that he had forgotten that he was bound by the procurement Act and was giving 'loans' to his companies and proxies.
"Since CFF is done between banks and contractors without the involvement of the government, Matawelle dubiously assumed himself as a bank, giving loans to contractors without recourse to laid down regulations.
"Contrary to claims that payments for the Cargo Airport and other contracts were made to the contractor solely based on certificates issued by the supervising ministries or agencies, records clearly show that all payments made to contractors were done in Zamfara State under Bello Matawelle were not based on an accurate assessment of the work done and also not certified by the supervising ministries.
"Specifically concerning the Cargo Airport, an initial advance payment was made to the contractors representing 30 per cent of the total contract in the sum of N3,465,569,736.90 without the approval of the designs and bills of quantities of the project by relevant government departments on the 19th of June 2020 almost 11 months after the award. Matawelle also gave a loan of ₦2,310,379,824.60 to the contractors shortly after the initial payment.
"Despite this humongous sums, none of the work listed as being done at the airport including the dual carriage way linking the airport to the town has been done. This is fraud and must be checkmated by first sacking Bello Matawelle as a Minister to pave way for independent investigations by relevant authorities.
"For a project that is only 19.47% completed, equivalent to ₦2.25 billion, one wonders why the Cargo Airport contractor was paid the sum of ₦6.78 billion. Obviously, Bello Matawalle thought he could confuse Nigerians by saying the project was 50-100% completed to justify his thievery.”
Matawalle had in a statement by Ibrahim Dosara , his Commissioner of information while he held sway in Zamfara state maintained that the accusation remained a calculated mischief and diversionary tactics of Governor Dauda Lawal to cover up for his inefficiency.
He insisted that he inherited the cargo Airport project contract from its predecessor adding that his resolve to go ahead with the project was in the best interest of the people of the state.