Name Them If You Can! Gov Mutfwang Dares Yilwatda Over EFCC Allegations

Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, has challenged the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nentawe Yilwatda, to provide evidence to back his corruption allegations against the state government.

Yilwatda had alleged that Plateau officials, along with the governor’s relatives and associates, were frequent visitors to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), describing the government as one of the most corrupt in the country.

In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Political Affairs, Istifanus Mwansat, Governor Mutfwang dismissed the claims and demanded concrete proof. While acknowledging that some state officials had been invited by the EFCC, he clarified that the invitations were connected to financial dealings under the previous administration.

According to him, government being a continuum requires current officials to respond to inquiries concerning past administrations. Mwansat outlined specific cases under EFCC investigation:

• The Accountant General, invited to explain expenditures from 2017 to 2022.

• Officials of the Plateau State Basic Education Board, summoned over TETFund projects between 2015 and 2022.

• Ministry of Agriculture staff, questioned over 400 unaccounted tractors.

• The Tourism Corporation’s General Manager, invited regarding debts from 2022.

He stressed that all the matters under probe predated 2023, noting that none of them involved the current government.

Mwansat further challenged Yilwatda to name any relative or associate of the governor who had been invited by the EFCC. On the issue of former lawmakers reportedly questioned by the anti-graft agency over official vehicles, he explained that the cars were legitimately allocated to them during their tenure. The EFCC, he said, only stepped in to demand a refund or return of the vehicles after their tenure was cut short.

Governor Mutfwang, through his aide, maintained that until proven otherwise, all EFCC invitations were linked to the previous administration, not his government or his associates.