Bello Matawalle, the former governor of Zamfara State and Minister of State for Defense, has denied claims made by his successor, Governor Dauda Lawal, that he left an empty treasury in his wake.
In an interview, Lawal asserted that Matawalle had left the state’s account with just ₦4 million.

However, during a news conference in Kaduna, Matawalle said that his administration gave the new government ₦2.6 billion in World Bank funding, ₦14 billion in bond proceeds, and numerous other grants through his former Commissioner for Information, Ibrahim Dosara.

He urged Governor Lawal to put governance first and put an end to the “blame game.”

When he gave an interview, we were forced by the situation to address some tissues of lies and concoctions of the Governor,” Dosara said.

Dosara maintained that under Matawalle’s administration, the average monthly allotment was ₦3.2 billion, which he said was not enough to cover the ₦2.1 billion monthly pay cost.

Additionally, he denied that four and a half months’ worth of outstanding salaries were due, claiming that just three months were. He blamed payment delays on Governor Lawal’s purported threats to banks.

Citing recent attacks and kidnappings, Matawalle also attacked the current administration’s security strategy and charged Lawal with lying about the state’s advancements.

He mentioned a number of problems, such as unpaid WAEC and NECO fees, unfinished road construction, and inadequate minimum wage implementation.