The immediate past governor of Zamfara State, Bello Mohammed Matawalle, who is the current Minister of State for Defence, and the incumbent governor, Dauda Lawal, have taken a swipe at each other over the state‘s financial and security situations.
The incumbent governor, Lawal, had disclosed that the Matawalle administration left only N4 million in the state coffers, but in response, the former governor described Dauda’s claims as a “blatant lie”.
However, Matawalle, at a press conference in Kaduna, through his former Commissioner for Information, Alhaji Ibrahim Dosara, informed that he left N14 billion in bond proceeds, N2.6 billion in World Bank funds, and other grants.
On salary arrears, Matawalle disputed Gov Lawal’s claim that his administration left a backlog of four and a half months‘ salaries, saying it was only three months and that Gov Lawal‘s threats to banks affected salary payments.
The former Governor also accused Governor Lawal of lying about security improvements in Zamfara, citing recent attacks and abductions in the state.
Matawalle further accused Gov Lawal of poor governance, citing issues with the nonpayment of WAEC and NECO fees for 2016, 2017, and 2018, as well as road projects and the implementation of the minimum wage.
We are compelled by the circumstances of the above subject matter, in which our government, under the leadership of His Excellency, former governor of Zamfara State, Hon. Bello Mohammed Matawalle was erroneously but intentionally accused of wrong doings while in office as the Governor of Zamfara state by the current governor Dr. Dauda Lawal, when he granted an interview to Arise TV news during its Monday 14th April 2025 morning show.
We would have ignored the interview for its inconsistencies, lack of focus, and credibility, but for the members of the public who are either not indigenes of Zamfara or are unaware of the happenings in the state for the past two years of Dauda Lawal as the governor of the State, we are obliged to respond to some of the governor‘s lies and concoctions in the interview.
It was on record that our average cash allocation then was 3.2 billion Naira monthly, which was grossly inadequate to pay workers‘ salaries and allowances totalling 2.1 billion Naira and run other essential services, including health, power supply, and logistics services for the state‘s huge numbers of visitors coming for various official government businesses. This is coupled with the mounting security challenges facing the State.
Meanwhile, in a press statement, Governor Lawal‘s Director General, Media and Communication, Nuhu Anka, said Matawalle‘s defence held no water and was a bunch of goofs.
Anka said, „I would have ignored Dosara‘s blunders and left the matter to the people of the state to judge, particularly the civil servants who were denied payment of their three months‘ salaries and the former Governor‘s aides who did not collect their severance allowance due to the cash crunch during Matawalle‘s administration, but I find it very imperative to react to put the records straight.
During the Arise TV interview, Governor Dauda Lawal came out clearly and informed the whole world that his predecessor, Bello Matawalle, left only four million Naira in the government‘s coffers, which Ibrahim Dosara was trying to dispute during the press conference, calling it ‚a blatant lie‘.
Dosara told journalists during the press conference that his paymaster, former Governor Bello Mattawalle, left N14 billion bond proceeds, N2.6 billion accresals World Bank funds, N6.3 billion UBE grants, and N2.7 billion NGcares World Bank funds investment, totalling to the sum of N42 billion to his successor, Governor Dauda Lawal.
„If the above amount were in the government‘s coffers during Matawalle‘s administration, then one would have asked Dosara to explain why his paymaster refused to settle the three months‘ salaries of the civil servants and denied his aides their severance allowance.
„The former Governor had seriously mismanaged the state government‘s resources on White-elephant projects and did not leave any legacy worthy of commendation throughout the state. He left huge debts, while the state went bankrupt during his tenure.
„The people of the state are lucky to have Governor Dauda Lawal as their leader. Otherwise, Zamfara state would have been ungovernable because his predecessor, Bello Matawalle, inflicted serious economic injury on the state, which would be very difficult to heal.
In just a few months, Governor Dauda Lawal used his experience as an economist to rebuild the state‘s already bastardised economy. He was able to pay the three months‘ salaries of the state civil servants and has also implemented the N30,000 minimum wage, which the previous administrations refused to implement. He has also implemented the recent N70,000 national minimum wage.
„As at this press statement, Zamfara state is not owing anybody, both within and outside the country, while government policies and programs are going on unhindered, unlike in the previous administrations when the state had to go cap in hand to borrow money and pay salaries.
„Dosara has also accused Governor Dauda Lawal of not paying much attention to the security situation in the state. This is laughable because everyone knows that the security situation in the state is far better now than when Bello Matawalle was the Governor. I don‘t want to play politics with security, so I don‘t want to delve much into Dosara‘s baseless accusations.
„Again, I want to remind Dosara that his paymaster is the Minister of Defence, whose responsibility is to protect the lives and property of the country‘s people. Ask your paymaster to tell us the efforts he has been making to secure his home state and the entire country.
„I want to advise Dosara and his paymaster to stop wasting their time as there is no amount of blackmail and campaign of calumny that could deter Governor Dauda Lawal from executing the people-oriented projects“.
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