Idibia Gabriel, kaduna
A group known as North West Good Governance Forum has accused Zamfara Governor Dauda Lawal in cahoots with state officials of alleged financial recklessness, misappropriation and diversion of local governments allocations into personal pockets.
The group in a press conference in Kaduna fingered key officials of the Governor as the conduit pipe through which the state funds were diverted and used to pursue political vendetta of perceived opponent.
President of the group Lawal Abdulkadir lamented lack of basic infrastructure in all 14 Local Governments of the state, despite consistent flow of allocations from the coffers of federal government, which he alleged had disappeared into private pickets of government appointees.
Abdulkadir indicted Commissioner for Finance and his counterparts in Ministry For Local Governments Affairs and its permanent Secretary; State Accountant-General and Secretary to the State Government as officials used by Governor Lawal to allegedly drain the state of its resources ought to have been used to fight insecurity, poverty and other deficits of governance that would make life better for the people of the State.
He decried what he described as deceptive media propaganda deployed by the Governor, using the state’s resources to mount sustained campaign of calumny against perceived opponents such as the immediate past Governor of the state and the present Minister of State for Defence Bello Matawalle.
Abdulkadir however, added a caveat that he was not holding brief for Matawalle as the group, according to him was out to ensure good governance anchored on truth, accountability, transparency, and above all regard and respect for rule and regulations guiding public finance and expenditures.
He disclosed that the state had gotten the sum of 290 billion Naira from January 2025 to date as allocations for the 14 Local Governments of the state with virtually nothing to show for it, other than abject poverty in rural areas because farmers could not access their farmland due to banditry.
He called on President Bola Tinubu to grow interest in the affairs of the Government in Zamfara State with the aim of ensuring prudent management of allocated resources, particularly those accrued to local governments solely for growth and development of the people so they too would have a sense of belonging in the democratic project.
While lamenting the provision of immunity clause enjoyed by the executive arm, including the governors which shields them from prosecution while in office, he expressed delight in the fact that political appointees such as commissioners court be tried for corrupt practices while still in office.
“We are calling on Economic and Financial Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) and other concerned agencies to investigate the above mentioned commissioners and appointed officials of Zamfara State under the leadership of Governor Dauda Lawal to save the state from going bankrupt due to the fleecing acts of few individuals backed by the chief executive officer of the state.
“A thorough forensic audit should be carried out on joint allocation accounts of local and state governments and the expenditures of all 14 local governments from January 2025 to determine if indeed due process were followed in spending the resources of the people at the grassroots.
“Full scale investigation of the concerned officials to determine the extent of damage done the LG accounts of all 14 local governments.
“Suspension of the affected office holders to prevent unsure interference and protect sanctity of probe into their actions.
“The Governor should be made to publish LG allocations and their expenditures for transparency and accountability,” the group demanded.
