An aide of Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has decried what he described as an attempt to blackmail the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa.

Atiku’s media aide, Daniel Bwala, made the remark while reacting to the allegation against Bawa by Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State.

Matawalle had accused Bawa of begging him for $2 million.

In an interview with BBC Hausa, the governor claimed he was being investigated because he “didn’t offer the EFCC chairperson the money he requested from him.”

The EFCC, however, dismissed the claim, stressing that it would not be drawn into a mud fight with a suspect under its investigation for corruption and unconscionable pillage of the resources of his state.

Reacting to the development, Bwala said the attempt to blackmail Bawa was shameful.

Tweeting, Bwala wrote: “If you want to remove Bawa as EFCC chair, at least be honourable about it and do that honorably.

“The idea that outgoing governors and cabinet people are being investigated so you instigate one of the suspects to blackmail him is, to say the least, shameful.

“Bawa, apart from improving upon the successes of Magu, has taken the commission to a more professional outfit where he draws accolades from far and near and deserves honor, not blackmail.

“If you have evidence against him, follow the due process of the law rather than blackmail.”