It isn’t a surprise to see how the current Zamfara Governor, Dauda Lawal Dare, is trying to deceive the general public, as he has done in all his previous records and dealings. His goal is to divert people’s attention from the slumber of his administration in dealing with the current escalating security challenges facing Zamfara State. Everybody knows who Dauda Lawal Dare is when it comes to misleading the general public, judging from his past records.
What Dauda Lawal Dare is trying to do is as follows:
- Divert the attention of Zamfara people and beyond from his total failure to immediately tackle the current waves of security concerns, which range from mass abductions to waves of attacks, killings, and maiming of hundreds of innocent people bedeviling the state, as he promised during his Electioneering campaign. When Matawalle became the governor of the state in 2019, he tackled the security challenges of the state within his first 100 days in office, and Zamfara became secure and peaceful for over 9 months without a single security incident across the state. Therefore, I see no reason for the government of Dauda Lawal Dare to do so, if at all he is committed to the misleading “Rescue Zamfara” slogan intended to deceive the poor and vulnerable people of the state.
- The Governor is also trying to justify the revocation of the cargo airport contract, which he is trying to award to himself through proxies, as he is presently working on the process but now in court with the contractor.
The former Governor, Hon. (Dr.) Bello Mohammed Matawalle Maradun, is on his earlier position regarding the misleading allegations against the former Governor. The former government has presented the following facts, which we have backed up with pictorial and documentary evidence for posterity.
The following compartments of the contract have been carried out and have reached various stages of completion as follows:
- Access Roads –
a. Airport access dual road, gate, and drainage have all been completed, with environmental assessment by the Federal Ministry of Aviation carried out and completed.
b. The 1.5-kilometer link road is cleared, sand-filled, and compaction completed. However, in his attempt to cause mischief to the immediate past administration, Gov. Dauda Lawal ordered the scrapping of the road.
c. The runway has been excavated, sand filling carried out with compaction of two kilometers out of the 3.4 kilometers completed, as well as the clearance of one kilometer completed.
d. Taxiway of 500 meters, clearance, excavation, sand filling, and compaction were carried out and completed.
e. Apron area, which is 200/2 meters of 190 meters, was cleared with excavation, sand filling, and compaction completed.
- Terminal-Level iron rafter is at 50 percent completion.
- Water pool is at 90 percent completion, while the water reservoir of the cargo airport has been fully completed, with all boreholes drilled across the airport completed.
- The cargo itself is at 75 percent completion with its fire station at 75 percent completion.
- The cargo airport wire fence is at 75 percent completion.
- Regarding the airport Mast, the NCAA was urged to advise the neighboring Air Force Base to move it from the current location to avoid interruption at the airport.
- Again, all the relevant and concerned authorities, including the Federal Ministry of Aviation, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority NCAA, and the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency NAMA, were involved in the professional execution of the project.
- The services of competent consultants were engaged in the execution of the cargo airport with all relevant documents at hand.
On the issue of non-compliance with due process, Dauda Lawal is blatantly lying, as his usual kind of crook and international deceit, just to divert people’s attention from the slumber of his administration and to criminally award the contract for the completion of the cargo airport project to himself through proxies.
No serious government fully committed to ensuring the fight against the ugly security situation bedeviling Zamfara State could spend almost six months without bringing tangible plans and actions to tackle the menace, rather engaging in private business trips both within and outside the country to accumulate money for himself, abandoning the state to administrative consultants.
The Governor, since his inauguration on May 29th, has never stayed for a complete week in the state, failing to establish his government structure and the institutional framework to ensure tackling the banditry head-on. This is the primary responsibility of any government. Instead, he engages in unnecessary baseless and unfounded accusations against the former Governor, who doggedly fought and tackled the ugly security situation he inherited within the first 100 days of his administration, if not for saboteurs and conflict entrepreneurs like Dauda Lawal Dare, who swore to destabilize the Matawalle government, thereby sabotaging the success of the Matawalle government.
Sadly, the Governor’s absenteeism from the state leaves the critical affairs of government businesses in the hands of consultants who have no knowledge of the state’s political terrain and culture, hired only to help him loot the state resources. His absenteeism affects the federal government’s zeal to end the menace of rural banditry, leading to the establishment of more IDP camps throughout the state, leaving helpless and vulnerable people at the mercy of bandits.
Zamfara, being one of the most educationally and economically disadvantaged states in Nigeria, needs a leader committed to the welfare, well-being, and the security of lives and property of the people. A leader who primarily concentrates on vendetta against perceived enemies and engages in private business trips outside the country like Dauda Lawal is not the type of leader Zamfara State requires.
Investigations reveal that Dauda Lawal has looted over 100 billion Naira from the state coffers. We are currently compiling our facts and figures to detail the general public on the direct stealing the Governor has committed against the state. We call on our elder statesmen to wake up to this misrule of our dear state and rescue it from deception, looting of state resources, and to guarantee the realization of the fundamental principles and objectives upon which Late General Sani Abacha of blessed memory founded the state over 30 years ago.
Meanwhile, attached are documents and pictorial evidence to support our claims for people to see.
