Certificate Forgery: Zamfara Governor, Matawalle, Embarks On Unlawful Use Of State Apparatus To Silence Critics

It has come to our notice that the Zamfara State Governor, Hon. Bello Mohammed Matawalle is all out to crush opposition and dissenting views and anyone that he sees as a threat in the quest for the realization of his second term ambition. Well-meaning patriots who are non-political actors have neither been spared and are among the most affected victims of Matawalle’s war without reason.

We are well aware how the Chief Security Officer to the Zamfara State Governor, CSP Ibrahim N. Angbasa has abandoned his primary responsibilities and has now turned himself around to serve as the neutralizer of any threats against the Governor’s second term ambition. This include arbitrary prosecution of opposition elements on phantom charges, arrest of social critics and threats to the freedom, safety and even life of anyone who opposes the return of the Governor. These practices are akin to dictatorship as witnessed under the military regimes. Howbeit, Matawalle has morphed into a rare breed of a democratic dictator and tyrant fused in one.

It is public knowledge that the Zamfara State Governor, Hon. Bello Matawalle has been dragged before the Federal High Court Gusau Zamfara State on account of a false affidavit sworn by the Governor as it relates to Constitutional requirements of eligibility and in contravention of Electoral Act as amended 2022 by one Muazu Mannir Haidara and Incorporated Trustee of Majalisar Matasan Arewa Association.

Since the filling of the said suit, the Governor has become restless and irritant and has ordered the Chief Security Officer to track and deal with any threats against this Governor. This led to the illegal co-opting of the IGP Special Tactical Squad (STS) to champion the arrest and disappearance of those perceived to be stumbling block to the governor’s elusive second term ambition.

In the realization of the said ungodly mission, the IGP STS has arrested Bashir Dahiru Umar the Head of ICT at the National Examination Council (NECO), Headquarters, Minna, Niger State, for his refusal to delete the 2018 Governor’s academic record from the NECO server, up to this day he remains captive at the Police Barracks, Constitution Road, Kaduna where he is being detained illegally.

It is a documented fact that the Governor through his Chief Security Officer have arrested several opposition elements and summarily sent to prison using willing judges in the State Magistrate and High Courts and some have disappeared without trace. As we speak, one of the Governor’s critic and a Member of the PDP in Zamfara State who goes by the name Mugira Yusuf is been trailed and to be tracked down by the CSO and brought to Zamfara State dead or alive simply for having a dissenting view against the Governor.

We call on the IGP to redeploy the CSO to Zamfara State Governor CSP Ibrahim N. Angbasa for becoming politically partisan and a threat to democratic tenets and freedom of speech. As we continue to monitor the activities of CP Kolo. In the same vein, the IGP must order for the immediate release of NECO Head of ICT who is being detained illegally on the instruction of the Governor. We shall also monitor continuously if anything should happen to the NECO Head of ICT and the records of the Governor at NECO.

Equally, we call for the transfer of the case regarding the false affidavit to Federal High Court Abuja to guarantee the safety of plaintiffs and counsels.

As a coalition of balanced Civil Society Groups who are deeply concerned about good governance and safeguarding our thriving democracy, it is our bounden duty to consistently frown at tyranny and fervidly fight against any threat to freedom of our citizenry. We therefore use this medium to call on the Governor to honorably resign from Office while we allow for justice to be speedily dispensed with. Furthermore, judging from the incoherent academic records of Governor Matawalle we call on the All Progressives Congress to deploy the internal mechanism of the Party and expel him from their fold in order not to associate the APC with the tyranny and illegality the governor is carrying on.

On the heels of the foregoing, we are using this medium to call on the UN, Amnesty International, NDI, US, UK to beam their searchlight on the ongoing undemocratic conduct and tyranny in Zamfara State as a way of safeguarding democracy and free choices. We trust that all true patriots and defenders of democracy will rise in opposition to these fiendish activities of Governor Matawalle.

* Mafara is the chairman of
Zamfara Alternative Forum.