The protesters who visited the National Assembly on Tuesday called on the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, to put pressure on President Bola Tinubu to sack Mr Matawalle.
A group of protesters has demanded the sack of the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, over alleged fraud and banditry.
The protesters who visited the National Assembly on Tuesday called on the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, to put pressure on President Bola Tinubu to sack Mr Matawalle.
The protesters under the auspices of the Civil Society Advocacy Groups for Accountability and Probity also accused the defence minister of romancing with bandits responsible for the loss of lives and properties worth billions of naira in the northern part of the country.
The group led by Danesi Momoh had earlier on Sunday at a press conference called for the sack of the minister.
Mr Matawalle, who is the immediate past governor of Zamfara State, has been enmeshed in a forth-and-back argument with the state government over allegations of fraud.
Shortly before he left office on 29 May, the anti-graft body- EFCC- accused him of misappropriating N70 billion belonging to the state government.
In his response to the allegation, Mr Matawalle had accused then Abdulrasheed Bawa-led agency of allegedly demanding a bribe of Two Million US dollars from him.
The protesters' petition
The protesters in a petition delivered by Mr Momoh to the Senate President claimed that Mr Matawalle cannot be trusted with a portfolio as sensitive as the defence ministry based on a publication by the Zamfara State Government, which found him of willfully embezzling billions of Naira through shady contract dealings, including the Gusau Cargo Airport.
The protesters noted that "For a Senate that has since inauguration, been preaching anti-corruption and socioeconomic hygiene, allowing a man of questionable character like Bello Matawalle pass your screening without you doing anything to remedy it when the facts are out is a direct mockery of your avowed legislative objectives."
The protesters reminded the Senate President "that many well-meaning Nigerians were vehemently opposed to Matawelle's appointment as a Minister of the Federal Republic following his antecedents as the Governor of Zamfara State."
"A Defence Portfolio to an inefficient and corrupt leader who allegedly romanced bandits was perhaps one of the biggest mistakes of this administration, but it can be corrected with the Senate giving a voice in that direction, a part of the petition read.
In the petition, the protesters noted that Matawalle's criminal hoarding of all utility vehicles belonging to the Zamfara State Government shortly after exiting power, and the hullabaloo that greeted his unsportsmanlike behaviour portray him as somebody who suffers kleptomania and also a direct enemy of progress and development.
"We are afraid this might be replicated in the Ministry of Defence at the detriment of our patriotic Military. Governor Dauda Lawal had to fight to recover those vehicles and save the impoverished people of Zamfara State from further depleting their meagre resources in the purchase of new vehicles when they already had many, but which were stolen.
"There are high standards expected of a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. They must be persons of unquestionable character and proven integrity. Unfortunately, the glaring revelations by the Zamfara State Government have shown Matawalle to be very deficit in character and lacking in integrity."
Continuing, the protesters said Mr Matawalle on Friday 20 October denied the allegation of embezzling billions of Naira through the Zamfara Cargo Airport project; a development that pushed the state government to reel out evidence backing the allegations.
"The evidence contained pictures and updates on financial records in relation to the uncompleted Gusau International (Cargo) Airport project. If a barefaced liar like Matawelle is allowed to remain in power as the Minister of Defence or in any other capacity, the funds meant for fighting insecurity and indeed protecting our territorial integrity will not only be embezzled but end up in the hands of bandits and terrorists with no sense of accountability.
"Your Excellency, details of Matawalle's financial malfeasance and administrative rascality as has now been made public is nauseating and frightening. Something urgent has to be done. And we call on the Senate to weigh in to ensure that he is immediately removed to restore some hope in good governance.
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The protesters noted that although the Senate has a limited role to play in the unfolding saga, nevertheless they said "it is very important that in national interest you play that role.
"We shall also be mounting pressure on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu whose table the buck stops directly to replace him. All the Senate needs is to play its part.
"Matawalle is a national security danger and a man of tainted personality. He is unfit to be a member of the Federal Executive Council. The Senate should help in easing him off the public office space," the protesters submitted.
Salihu Abdullahi, the director Sergeant at Arms of the National Assembly, who received the petition on behalf of the Senate President, expressed satisfaction with the peaceful and orderly conduct of the protesters adding that he will convey their grievances to the appropriate quarters.
