The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Zamfara has called on President Bola Tinubu to impose a state of emergency in the state due to persistent security issues. The party made this request in a statement released on Saturday by state spokesperson Yusuf Idris. The statement applauded the military’s offensive against bandits in North-West under the direction of Defense Minister Bello Matawalle, but stated that Zamfara residents no longer have faith in Governor Dauda Lawal’s ability to reduce insecurity.but added that the people of Zamfara had lost faith in Governor Dauda Lawal’s ability to reduce violence.
The APC said this was done to divert attention from the federal government’s efforts and added, “As a party, we observe with dismay how the Zamfara government is trying to sabotage the ongoing onslaught through its media campaigns.”
The party continued, “We have noted that Lawal, as the state’s governor, has never in any manner supported the military operations in the state in terms of logistics.”
It brought to memory that the military had just issued a warning to him to avoid their endeavors, claiming that “Governor Dauda is now bent on distracting the operation through media campaigns and propaganda” and that he was playing with the lives of the people.
APC said that in order to thwart the “mischievous plan,” it was necessary to ask the federal government to declare a state of emergency in Zamfara.
“Dauda Lawal, the state governor, has initiated the act of portraying himself as the exclusive sponsor of the operation, even though he has no involvement in it,” the APC stated.
The party said that Gov Dauda engaged in “vehemently nurtured attacks” on Mr. Matawalle, with whom he had fought bandits in tandem.
“The governor is now, as usual, turning to politicizing and indirectly fighting Matawalle” by bringing up his previous charges against the minister of embezzling funds from Zamfara in media appearances.
‘Who’s Matawalle?’ Governor Lawal ironically questioned during his TV appearances. I am in conversation with Minister of National Defense Badaru. The President, the Security Advisor, and I don’t require Matawalle.
Despite the governor’s denial, the APC accused him of funding terrorism with more than N1.3 billion. The governor, the party said, redistributed all state Ministry of Finance directors who had leaked the memo, a claim the governor flatly rejected. The party said that Mr. Lawal was implicated in the accusations as well, despite having allocated more than N19 billion for his wife’s kitchen. Asserting that the party’s state leadership is cognizant of the APC’s accusations and is getting ready to respond, PDP state publicity secretary Haliru Andi provided confirmation.
