Sani Shinkafi, a former Zamfara State governorial candidate, has called on President Bola Tinubu to fire Bello Matawalle, the Minister of State for Defense, and abolish the Ministry.
In response to an old video of Matawalle showing compassion for robbers, Shinkafi made this statement.
In the 2021 video, which was captured by Channels TV, Matawalle, the governor of Zamfara State at the time, was seen defending some of the state’s troublemakers.
Following a meeting with then-President Muhammadu Buhari, Matawalle made the remark at the State House in Abuja.
“Not all of them are criminals,” Matawalle stated in response to inquiries from reporters regarding the bandits’ actions in Zamfara State.
In response to the video, Shinkafi urged Tinubu to look into it in a statement signed on behalf of the Patriots for the Advancement of Peace and Social Development.
“More importantly, Bello Matawalle’s interview with a television correspondent as the Governor of Zamfara State at the time, in which he stated that ‘not all bandits are criminals,’ has gone viral on social media, depicting him as a bandit sympathizer and incapable of combating them,” he stated.
Additionally, General Musa, the newly appointed Minister of Defense, was Chief of Defense Staff under Minister of State for Defense Bello Matawalle. To avoid personality conflicts, Matawalle should not continue to serve under Musa.
“General Musa should be allowed to reorganize and reposition the Ministry of Defense for the next duties, as he is a distinguished military officer. During this moment of a security emergency, there should be no partisan politics or sentiment when it comes to changing the security architecture.
As a result, I demand that Bello Matawalle be fired immediately from his position as Minister of State for Defense. His term is a depressing reflection on the struggle against terrorism. Matawalle should be fired or honorably resign, just like Mohammed Badaru, the former Minister of Defense, who did so voluntarily. Political interests are subordinated to national security. Everyone in the planet is observing us.
“I further demand that the position of Minister of State for Defense be immediately abolished. It is an anomaly in military leadership and superfluous.
The command structure is not divided as it is in the nation under a serious national defense architecture. Nigeria now has a structure where the Minister of State for Defense is in charge of the marine domain, which is crucial to our economy and national security, rather than the senior minister.
Second, the junior minister is also in charge of the Pension Board, which is meant to provide for the welfare of veterans. Most significantly, the senior minister is not in charge of the Defence Industries Corporation, which is meant to be the country’s defense ecosystem of businesses, governmental organizations, and academic institutions that create, manufacture, and sell military goods and services.
“In the Ministry of Defense, we cannot have two ministers conducting concurrent administrations, particularly since that all sectors must work together to address security concerns. All security experts agree that the position of Minister of State for Defense should be eliminated. It’s time to discard it.
