Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, has accused the Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, of sponsoring people to “lie and say despicable things” about him but said they won’t get him removed as Minister.
Matawalle, the immediate former Governor of Zamfara State (between 2019-2023), said this while reacting to corruption allegations leveled against him by the State government.
He lost his bid for a second term in March to Mr Dauda of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
The Zamfara government had accused Matawalle, among other forms of financial recklessness, of embezzling billions of naira from the State cargo airport project and directing the Ministry of Local Government to withdraw N1 billion from the Local Government Joint Account on October 25, 2021 and to pay N825 million to the contractors without any valuation.
But, speaking in an interview with DCL Hausa, Matawalle accused Lawal of sponsoring lies against him.
Stating that the challenges in Zamfara State did not begin with his administration, Matawalle said: “On the issue of the airport road, after Dauda became governor, he deceived the people by saying he was going to repair the airport road, only for him to take a bulldozer there and scrap the road we already constructed.
“He did that to humiliate me and to say Matawalle did not work in the state. He did the same thing with Ruga. We did everything, and invested money but he destroyed the Ruga.
“He should know that he didn’t do that to me but cheated the people of Zamfara. He also cheated himself because he took an oath to protect the lives and properties of the people of Zamfara.
“Just one of the airport roads, it cost over N4 billion but he came out lying about everything. He also destroyed our infrastructural projects in the state just so he could come out and lie against me.
“I heard what he said about state education. I have the documents but he refused to understand because he is so blinded trying to humiliate me.
“Sponsoring people to lie and say despicable things about me won’t push your agenda of me being removed as a Minister.”
Zamfara State Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Abdulmalik Gajam, told the Chief Executive Office, Arewa Twitter, Abdullahi Otaki in a viral video interview how Matawalle ruined the finances of the State.
According to Gajam: “In air transportation, for over 15 years, former governors have been promising Zamfara State an airport. This previous administration allocated N13bn for the construction of an airport. They have even paid over 30 per cent of the money to the contractors. We have the documents and the evidence. There is nothing in that place. Nothing at all. There must be accountability in this sector. We are talking of a government that used taxpayers’ money for construction and nothing is built there.
“In healthcare, there is nothing to show. There was a project to build and revitalise several health centres. When you go around there now, they are substandard. These structures are empty. Even animals cannot be taken into those structures. These structures were built with World Bank funds and they have no single equipment, manpower, planning, or policy. People are dying and we are still having health emergencies in Talata-Mafara and Anka local government areas. Children are dying of cholera.
“In infrastructure, one would think the former government invested in a development pattern that would improve the system, but nothing was done at all. All the borrowed money was squandered. There are no roads, no access to clean water, no energy, nothing. Matawalle’s government spent more than N15bn erecting structures. Three years ago, they awarded a fresh contract for building the Government House. At one point, it was N4bn. Later that year, that same contract was increased by N400m. The next year, the government awarded another contract for building the governor’s office for N1.8bn. If you go to Zamfara, there is no functioning governor’s office. We are the ones trying to rehabilitate it at the moment. Where then is the residence Matawalle said he built with over N2bn? We have people dying of hunger, malnutrition, illiteracy, and insecurity. Would you believe that in the Government House, Matawalle bought massage chairs for N50m each?
“The legacy that the past governor left is that he bought Hilux vehicles and dashed them to bandits. We have evidence. He granted asylum at the Government House to bandits. Even in the barbaric era, there has never been a time when an emir or a king granted asylum to somebody who killed other people without hesitation, kidnapped them for ransom and raped their girls. Are these people to sit on the tables with?
“When Matawalle came to office, the Federal Government bought some vehicles and gave them to the state. Most of them were bulletproof tankers. When we came into the office, we met them with flat tyres. This means they were not serviced at all. But, all these were provided for and removed from the state purse. It is in our government that we have said we would pay the police and army their earned allowances and service their vehicles so we would be able to protect our people. That was what we met. That is Zamfara State as we speak.”
Asked why he is blaming the Matawalle and other administrations instead of focusing on what the government is doing, Gajam added: “This is a great question. I get this a lot from people who tell us to just focus and look into the future. Where do we focus on if there is no accountability? No government exists without accountability. No government is worthy of respect and following by its people if there is no accountability. There are no policies that align with international standards. How will the state move forward? As I speak, Zamfara State does not have any development plan.
“We are the ones trying to put it in place trying to make sure that this state has direction. For 20 years, they had no direction. The civil service has been decimated. For years, there has been no capacity-building programme set by the state for the civil servant. How do you expect someone to work for you efficiently if you do not train them and enhance their way of thinking?
“Recently, the governor cried out that there was a move with the FG to negotiate with bandits. Why did you think that was happening? Now, someone who did not pay the school fees of up to 40,000 young people wants to come and negotiate with bandits. How can someone who granted asylum to bandits be a Minister of Defence? He was distributing Hilux vans to bandits but could not invest in mass transit for the people of his state.
“The first step in trying to rectify a problem is realising that there is a problem and many Nigerians do not hear about this. Most of these politicians would leave Zamfara and go to the FCT, claiming they represent Zamfara. They are not our representatives. They are the worst among us. We have farmlands that no one can go to for harvest. There has been a lot of negligence and lack of foresight. Before we think of the future, we must first address the past.”
