Zamfara is in a desperate need of infrastructures for development. But the situation is very pathetic since the advent of Matawalle’s administration. He has virtually nothing to show to appease the minds of Zamfarawa regarding capital projects. In an interview with DW Hausa in which he was questioned about capital projects, he could not cite any.
To the bewilderment of many people, Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara state of the APC lost his seat to Dauda Lawal Dare of the PDP in the last governorship election. While the PDP candidate scored 377,726 votes, Matawalle polled 311,976 votes to become a loser.
Indeed, Matawalle got the governorship seat on a platter of gold in 2019. He became a governor without winning an election. The Supreme Court gave him the top job having penalised the APC for not nominating its victorious candidate through valid primaries. It was then on record that the PDP had never won a governorship election in Zamfara since 1999. But this time, the internal political feud between former Governor Abdulazeez Yari and Senator Kabiru Marafa led to the collapse of the APC in the state. If he had thought deeper, he would have resorted to providing good governance to justify the confidence Allah reposed on him for making his way to the corridors of power easy.
In his frantic efforts to win the last election and also to validate the assertion that every politician thinks of the next election, Matawalle was instantly gripped by the extreme fear of losing the last election. Hence, he worked out a new formula and modalities which he believed would enable him to weather the storm. Influenced by power intoxication and how to sustain and boost it, he found an option by decamping to the APC, instead of remaining in the PDP to consolidate on its structure. In other words, his political migration was a sign of dissatisfaction with Allah’s plan of how he made him a governor in a technical manner.
In a political gathering amidst killings in Zamfara, Matawalle exhibited a highly moral insolvency to show the world that he was a happy and successful politician rejecting the PDP for APC. He used the public treasury to host that mammoth crowd while many of his subjects were wallowing in poverty. He was unmindful that as the chief security officer in charge of Zamfara state, bandits were actually ruling the state with guns and bullets. Peace was eventually sacked and the people were not living in safety, thereby unfulfilling the basic essence of government, that is ensuring the safety of lives and properties.
His ill-motivated action of transferring to the APC did not go down well with some members of the PDP, who dragged him to court, challenging his decision as illegal. However, in February 2022, a Federal High Court sitting in Gusau struck out the suit. The judge, Bappa Aliyu, said that the APC and PDP did not make it unlawful for a governor to decide and defect to any other constitutionally recognized political party operating within Nigeria.
To demonstrate his unflinching commitment to his new party, he engineered the impeachment of his deputy, Mahdi Aliyu, who remained firmly in the PDP and parted ways with him. On February 22, 2022, the lawmakers of the Zamfara state House of Assembly voted to remove the deputy governor from office. The investigative panel set up by the state’s Chief Judge, Mr. Aliyu, mischievously found him guilty of abuse of office, self enrichment using public funds and failure to discharge official duties.
While all these political intrigues were being played out by Matawalle, little did he know that he would be caught by nemesis to atone for his political sins. He knew not that he was digging his own political grave. Indeed, the political immorality of abandoning the party on which platform he was awarded the seat of the governor is a good lesson for all political aspirants. His political intolerance of not allowing his deputy to hold his own political view is also a great sin that Matawalle is now atoning for.
For the records, there had been some formidable factors that culminated in the eventual fall of Matawalle. He rose to power in an amazing way and lost the same power in a way that shocked him and surprised others. Right from his inauguration as the executive governor, he repaid political loyalty with disloyalty. In this case, he distanced himself from the forces of Abdulazeez Yari, the former governor, who were instrumental to his political sustainability. Perhaps, he underrated their political influence as the structures of the party now belonged to him to make or mar. Matawalle had never imagined that his rulership would not go beyond 2023 with the incumbency factor at his disposal.
Matawalle also designed his fall when he neglected the civil servants’ welfare in the state. Their monthly salaries were and are not forthcoming as when due. The state workers are living in deprivation as they are not entitled to the minimum wage of 30 thousand naira. But sadly, there has been cases of even slashing their salaries, the only source of their income. While endangering the lives of civil servants through delayed and slashed salaries, Matawalle was involved in a financial shenanigans when he used 20 million naira public treasury to bribe some relations of Senator Kabiru Marafa to win their loyalty.
Zamfara is in a desperate need of infrastructures for development. But the situation is very pathetic since the advent of Matawalle’s administration. He has virtually nothing to show to appease the minds of Zamfarawa regarding capital projects. In an interview with DW Hausa in which he was questioned about capital projects, he could not cite any. Even the PDP had confronted him to show the projects for which the contracts had been signed but nothing is physically and visibly on the ground.
Not only that, Matawalle was dragged to the court where the plaintiffs were seeking for his disqualification from the governorship race over an alleged perjury arising from certificate forgery and age falsification. In the aftermath of that, the governor became restless and irritant, ordering the Chief Security Officer to track and deal with any threat against his second term bid. This led to the arrest and detention of those perceived to be stumbling blocks to his ambition. This act of intimidation did not go down well with many people.
When the presidential election result of Zamfara was released, it showed the APC winning with a wide margin. This made Matawalle to relax, thinking that what transpired in the first election would not be a different thing from the second one. However, it was Abdulazeez Yari that intensified the governorship election campaign in Talatan Mafara. Eventually, Matawalle was thought a good lesson of belittling the opposition which intensified its own campaign.
Governor Bello Matawalle’s defeat in the last election could be seen from the perspective of a politician whose ill-motivated actions brought him down. And this is a great lesson for all aspiring politicians.