Bandit video: Political opponents framing me up – Matawalle

A former Governor of Zamfara State, Hon. Bello Mohammed Matawalle has warned his political enemies to stop sponsoring a wanted bandit, Bello Turji, to be damaging his name and reputation.

This was contained in a statement from the office of the Minister, State, Ministry of Defense, issued on Sunday.

Matawalle blamed some elements within the Zamfara State government of skewing the narrative of insecurity challenges in the state against him.

The statement was reacting to a viral video clip on social media platforms, linking him with banditry in Zamfara State.

According to the statement, the Minister specifically accused the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP-led administration in the State of the plot to tarnish his name, claiming that his hands were clean.

“Bello Turji’s audio was unprofessionally synchronised with his video to accuse the former governor of injustice in the conduct of the reconciliation by the then Zamfara State government.

“However, the video/audio editor unprofessionally disqualified his work so much that one can vividly notice the failure of the audio and video clips to simultaneously synchronise,” he said.

He blamed the development on the plans of those he described as enemies of Zamfara and Nigeria’s progress, claiming that the same people opposed his ministerial nomination by President Bola Tinubu.

He further stated that he got the required security clearance from relevant security agencies before the confirmation of his ministerial appointment.

According to him, he led Zamfara State as Governor with all sense of humility, honesty, and justice, reiterating that the audio-visual in question was unprofessionally concocted and poorly produced to tarnish his image, hence it should be disregarded by the public.