An aide to the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, has strongly denied accusations by the Zamfara State Government that the minister was behind the alleged harassment of opposition figures through the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA).
Alhaji Suleiman Shinkafi, a close associate of the minister, described the claims as unfounded and politically motivated, insisting that neither Matawalle nor any federal security agency was targeting members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Zamfara.
According to Shinkafi, the political reality in the state makes the allegation illogical, noting that the PDP currently controls the government while the All Progressives Congress (APC) operates as the opposition.
“There is no opposition being harassed in Zamfara. The PDP is in power, while the APC is the opposition,” he said on Thursday. “What is happening is that APC members are the ones being harassed.”
He further alleged that APC supporters had faced sustained intimidation since the 2023 governorship election, which he claimed was marred by irregularities. Shinkafi said several party members were presently in detention over cases he described as politically induced.
He also claimed that the post-election climate had forced him and other APC members to avoid staying openly in the state capital, Gusau, for fear of persecution.
The Zamfara State Government had earlier accused Matawalle of using the Office of the National Security Adviser to intimidate opposition figures, following the reported arrest of Saleem Abubakar, a Technical Assistant to Governor Dauda Lawal, in Abuja.
In a statement issued by the governor’s spokesperson, Sulaiman Idris, the state government alleged that Abubakar was taken into custody by operatives believed to be linked to a special forces unit under the NSA’s office, without a warrant or due process.
The government claimed that Abubakar was moved between undisclosed locations after his arrest, raising concerns about his safety and the legality of the operation.
Describing the incident as alarming, the state government warned that the alleged action could undermine public confidence in the neutrality of Nigeria’s security agencies.
It called on President Bola Tinubu to intervene urgently and ensure that the Office of the National Security Adviser operates strictly within the bounds of the law.
The state government maintained that if Abubakar had committed any offence, he should be formally charged in court rather than subjected to what it described as an unlawful arrest.
Meanwhile, Matawalle’s camp has continued to distance the minister from the incident, insisting that the allegations were part of a political campaign to tarnish his image and cast federal security institutions in a negative light.
