The camp of former Zamfara governor, Bello Matawalle, has accused Governor Dauda Lawal of taking credit for projects initiated by past administrations.
The Lawal-led Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, administration was also accused of mismanaging the state’s resources.
In a statement signed by the former Commissioner for Information, Ibrahim Dosara, Matawalle’s camp cited a number of projects being celebrated by Lawal, which they said were initiated and executed by previous administrations.
The Matawallee camp noted that the Yariman Bakura Specialist Hospital was nearly complete before Lawal took office.
Dosara accused Lawal of deceit, alleging that he has been re-commissioning projects that were already completed and commissioned by previous administrations.
Lawal was in the same vein accused of inflating project sums, and mismanaging the state’s resources.
The statement said, “Very important personalities were deceitfully invited, including the former President Olusegun Aremu Obasanjo GCFR, to recommission the already commissioned projects portrayed as the current administration’s achievements.
“Yet, none of these developments, including the Yariman Bakura Specialist Hospital, Gusau township roads and the Gusau Airport, to mention just a few, originated under Governor Dauda’s watch. The projects were conceptualised and significantly executed by previous administrations.
“The Yariman Bakura Specialist Hospital, for instance, was constructed at a cost of N799 million under previous administrations. Governor Dauda’s government claimed to have spent N9 billion on the renovation and construction of doctors’ quarters. This staggering figure raises serious concerns. Equipment and installations removed in the process of the so-called renovation, worth millions, were reportedly missing, which could have been sufficient to cover any legitimate renovation costs.”
Dosara equally faulted the re-award of the Gusau Airport project, originally valued at N11.5 billion but allegedly re-awarded by Lawal’s government at N69 billion.
“There is clear evidence that most of the roads recommissioned were executed by Matawalle, which include but are not limited to Canteen Daji dual carriage road; College of Islamic Science Road; Nasarawa Area Road, behind Gusau Hotel; new road linking Cediya Ukku, Gidan Mayana, Tullukawa and Anka; Inno Mai Doya Road; Sardauna Biredi Road; Hira da Kwaddi and Kanwuri Road.”
The ex-commissioner described the Lawal administration’s declarations of emergencies in education and healthcare as cosmetic. According to the statement, overcrowded classrooms, inadequate teaching materials, and decaying infrastructure persist across the state.
He added that most hospitals are underfunded and understaffed, leading to a worsening health crisis and a mass exodus of doctors. Dosara, in the same vein, dismissed the Lawal government’s claim of recruiting 500 teachers and renovating 450 schools.
The Matawalle camp described as false, Lawal’s claim of generating N2 billion monthly in internally generated revenue (IGR). According to Dosara, the true figure is about N300 million.
He equally faulted claims by the governor that he inherited just N4 million from the Matawalle administration.
The statement said, “The administration of Dauda Lawal claims to generate N2 billion monthly as internally generated revenue (IGR). This is far from reality, as actual independent IGR is estimated at around N300 million. Inflated figures include non-IGR components like Hajj funds and statutory allocations. It is disappointing that a governor who claims to be a financial expert would mislead the public to this extent.
“Governor Dauda frequently and repeatedly claims he inherited only N4 million from Matawalle’s administration. Yet, he has refused to acknowledge the N14 billion bond proceeds, N6.3 billion UBE BESDA reward, N2.7 billion NGCares World Bank Funds Investment, which yielded B49 billion to his administration as a return from the investment of Matawale’s administration.
“In addition, Matawalle’s administration left $1.9 million (USD) balance in the World Bank ACReSAL account. There are other capital investments, such as the Best Prime Hotel in Abuja.”
The Matawalle camp further knocked Lawal for allegedly failing to address security challenged in the state, claiming that insecurity has worsened under his administration.
Dosara added that Lawal had taken credit for the Community Protection Guards, an outfit which he said was initiated under Matawalle’s government.
The statement added, “Under Matawalle, no local government headquarters was ever overrun by bandits. Dauda Lawal has been given excuses at various fora for his inability to curtail insecurity in the state and attributed it to his lack of control over security agencies.
“The question here is, which state governor has control over security agencies? But despite the fact that Matawalle was then in the opposition, he was able to manage the security situation in the state to the extent that, for the period of almost a year, there was no record of banditry in the state. It seems Dauda has no understanding of security complexity and how to manage it. In fact, even the much-publicised Community Protection Guards (CPG) Dauda is claiming credit; they were initiated and legislated by Matawalle’s government. Dauda merely signed into law what had already been established.”
The Lawal administration was also accused of failing to address acute water scarcity in Gusau and other parts of Zamfara.
According to the statement, despite federal allocations of N20 billion monthly post-subsidy funds, the Lawal government has failed to address humanitarian crises, settle pension arrears, or invest meaningfully in agriculture and transportation.
Noting that a jerrycan of water that previously sold for N50 now costs over N500, Dosara said the governor is insensitive to the plight of the people.
According to Dosara, Governor Lawal’s leadership is reliant on media propaganda and misrepresentation of facts, and lack real impact on the lives of Zamfara citizens.
Stressing that education, healthcare, infrastructure and security have all declined in Zamfara under Lawal, the ex-commissioner alleged that governance has been outsourced to corporate outsiders who are not familiar with the situation of the state.
“Governor Dauda Lawal has demonstrated his lack of good knowledge and understanding of public sector governance. This has adversely affected the running of the state as governance in itself is outsourced to non-indigenes who themselves come from the corporate sector, like the governor, with little or no knowledge of the socio-economic fabric of the state. His administration thrives on media propaganda, inflated claims, and misrepresentation of facts, while on the ground, there is nothing to show for it,” the statement added.
