A political youth organisation formerly aligned with the Peoples Democratic Party, the PDP Young Leaders Alliance (PDP-YLA), has publicly retracted its recent protest and issued an apology to the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle.
The group had previously staged a demonstration at the headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Abuja, calling for an investigation into Matawalle over alleged financial misconduct during his time as governor of Zamfara State.
However, in a statement released on Saturday, PDP-YLA’s spokesperson, Muhammed Usman, admitted that the protest was premised on what he described as “inaccurate and politically charged” information
He claimed the initial allegations were part of a broader campaign designed to discredit the minister.
“I was misled by exaggerated claims aimed at discrediting the minister,” Usman said, urging Nigerians to disregard the narrative.
The PDP-YLA called on Nigerians to focus on Matawalle’s contributions to national security under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
“The group also commended Tinubu’s nation-building efforts and urged citizens to support initiatives aimed at repositioning Nigeria for development”.
Speaking further, he noted that the Zamfara State Government is planning another protest and promised to give us 50 million naira just to tarnish Matawalle’s name, but we rejected it.
Their fear is nothing but the issue of a state of emergency, and they are doing everything possible to distract the people’s attention from it. That is why they’re busy mentioning Matawalle’s name everywhere.
