A former Zamfara State Commissioner for Information, Ibrahim Dosara, has rejected allegations linking the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, to banditry amid rising insecurity nationwide.
Dosara, in a Sunday statement, described the claims as politically driven, questioning why such accusations are resurfacing just as the government intensifies efforts to curb insecurity.
He noted that the allegations have been subjected to multiple investigations over the years without a single indictment or official finding.
According to him, those who continue to make the claims — including former aides and political rivals — have never taken their accusations to the police, intelligence agencies, or anti-corruption bodies such as the EFCC or ICPC, nor pursued any legal action.
Dosara stated, “The allegations against Dr. Matawalle have been part of Zamfara’s political theatre since 2019. They have been investigated and revisited without producing even one indictment, charge, or recommendation of wrongdoing.
“If any of the individuals involved — disgruntled former aides, political opponents, or clerics influenced by partisan sentiments — had credible evidence, the law provides ample avenues for redress. Yet none has chosen to follow them. Instead, these accusations resurface only when politically convenient. In a constitutional democracy, due process — not speculation — is the true measure of integrity.”
He further argued that portrayals of Matawalle’s administration have been distorted, emphasizing that the government expanded security deployments and improved intelligence coordination during his tenure.
Dosara added that the dialogue approach once employed in Zamfara was widely supported at the time by federal authorities, security experts, and northern stakeholders. He explained that the strategy was later discontinued based on updated intelligence assessments.
“Critics now misrepresent those dialogues,” he said, “even though they were then part of a nationally endorsed security strategy adopted in several states across the Northwest and North-Central.”
