Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, has clarified the decision to retain Bello Matawalle, Minister of State for Defence, amidst accusations of his alleged involvement in sponsoring bandits and exacerbating insecurity.
During an appearance on Arise TV on Wednesday, Onanuga dismissed these allegations as “mere fabrications that lack any truth.”
When questioned about Matawalle’s continued presence in the cabinet following the recent reshuffle, which saw other ministers dismissed, Onanuga acknowledged the circulation of various rumors regarding Matawalle’s purported ties to insecurity in Zamfara State, noting that these allegations have even reached the President.
However, he underscored that the National Security Adviser’s office conducted an investigation into these claims and deemed them to be unfounded, asserting that Matawalle is fully capable of carrying out his responsibilities.
“As far as I know, most of those things are just mere allegations. I think in one of them, I got something like that I sent to the NSA, I said have you heard about this? and he said no, we have proved a lot to those things that they are not correct, they are not true. People are just bringing out all kinds of fake things and allegations about someone.
“And that is why the man is there. Even the President has heard so many stories about him. For him to be there, shows like I said, some of those things have been probed, and they are found not to be true,” Onanuga explained, clarifying the rationale behind the President’s decision not to dismiss Matawalle.
