INSECURITY: SHAME ON GOVERNOR DAUDA POLITICIZING BLOOD OF THE INNOCENT CITIZENS ON HIS NECK

Sahara Weekly Reports That The Zamfara State chapter of the APC just came across a sham supposedly written by Haliru Andi, PDP’s spokesperson in the state. We strongly believe it was written on Andi’s behalf because the writer doesn’t even know that Funtua is not in Kaduna. But in Katsina state.

Be as it may, we find it very much necessary to respond to the dense write-up which represents how his (Andi’s) principal and Zamfara governor Dauda Lawal is handling governance with enmity against just one person, his predecessor and current Minister of State for Defence, Dr. Bello Mohammed Matawalle at the detriment of Zamfara citizens while at the same time using the people to claim his cowardly innocence.

To start with, the Honourable Minister of State for Defence has made several efforts to connect with the governor both privately and publicly to find ways of tackling armed banditry in Zamfara even though he is a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria but as a citizen of Zamfara, its immediate past governor and a minister, he feels genuinely committed to stand up for his state as its ambassador, but all he always receives from Dauda and his agents are bashings including the saying at many fora directly from the governor that they have nothing to take from Matawalle in the form of advice or action in addressing the insecurity bedeviling the state.

Concerned by the growing insecurity in Zamfara, which is considered the hub of armed bandits however, the federal government, under the focused leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, directed the Minister of State for Defence to move the Defence Ministry and the Chief of Defence Staff to the northwest region and fully tackle the bandits to eliminate them.

Seeing Zamfara not only as his state but as the supposed bandits’ hub, the Minister suggested that the operational base should be Zamfara because it is also central in the region bordering almost all the affected states, so he began to make efforts to contact the governor Dauda who has the mandate to give a site and his support for this onerous task.

Instead of jumping to the golden opportunity to save his people, the governor vehemently refused to answer Matawalle and even directed his aides against answering any calls traced to the Minister since time was running out and to avoid the governor’s earlier non-cooperative stance against the federal government when he once made a noise that the federal government was taking action against bandits without consulting him as the chief security officer of his state, the Minister moved the operational base to the neighboring Sokoto State where the governor and the people of the state expressed willingness and happiness to support the operation, a development which led to overwhelming successes against the bandits including the elimination of their topmost leader, Halilu Sububu.

As expected however, the governor, the government, and not the people of Zamfara were not happy that of all people, Matawalle’s coordination was succeeding after they made several efforts and blackmail to portray to the world through all available means that the Minister of State for Defence, Dr. Bello Mohammed Matawalle cannot do it.

First, the governor and his aides tried to lay unsuccessful claims to make the operation look as if he (Dauda) was the one in charge, then they began to call on the federal government to sack Matawalle, only that they do not have tangible reason and now through the state PDP spokesperson, Andi, they want the Minister to be removed because he has been hailed over the successes being recorded against the bandits in all the states of the region.

While the Sokoto State governor, Ahmed Aliyu has constructed a military barrack in Isa local government with all required facilities and amenities, three Forward Operation Bases FOB to ease Air Force operations in his state as complementary to the federal government efforts, the request to replicate these through the provision of land for similar gesture strategically in Tsafe, Maru and Maradun to governor Dauda in Zamfara was not even listened to by the governor, thus, if the PDP was a serious party, it should take action against the governor as its agent who does not blink when the lives and property of his people are innocently being wasted by wanton criminals.

The currently inaugurated War-Hangers in Sokoto courtesy of Governor Ahmad Aliyu, who donated the state Hajj Camp to serve as an operational base for the operation to win the war against banditry in his state,e, which he appreciated the federal government efforts as another step in the right direction.

What is expected from the blindfolded Zamfara PDP government is to either commend the minister’s proactiveness by engaging directly with the local communities in Sokoto’s Gundumi forest in Isa local government, Turba, Tsamaye, Hawan Doro, and Mai Lalle communities of Sabon Birnin which all share borders with Shinkafi local government area of Zamfara State or keep their guts shut.

The mission of the Minister’s visit is to assess the security situation in the area to restore peace and security across the northwest states

Lots of measures have been put in place, such as the deployment of more troops to the area, which now makes bandits flee while some are being neutralized.

However, the Minister has announced officially that the federal government will establish three military formations in Sokoto that will combat banditry.

Let PDP and Dauda Lawal understand that the entire operation is for the Northwest, not Zamfara alone, and the federal government has the right to station its troops or operation from anywhere in the country where it believes it will succeed without any sabotage from the state government like that of Zamfara.

We advise him to focus on meeting his campaign promises and not to divulge in unnecessary or divisive noise-making.

Governance is a collective effort, not a one-man show or cabalism, as he is operating in Zamfara State.

He should know family and friends are good at dinners, lunch, and parties, not serious government business.

His envy of Matawalle will never succeed, and time will tell.

Yusuf Idris Gusau

APC Publicity Secretary

Zamfara State

12th October, 2024

*’EFCC’s silence on Ganduje despite monumental corruption allegations no longer golden’

A Coalition of 30 Anti-corruption Civil Society Organizations have called for the resignation of the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ola Olukoyede, over his alleged failure to prosecute a former Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje, despite multiple petitions against him on multi-billion naira fraud and bribery allegations.

The CSOs, under the umbrella, “Global Initiative for Corruption Eradication”, also called for the immediate arrest of Ganduje, who they said had no immunity, but was allegedly enjoying the cover of the Federal Government through the EFCC.

The spokesperson for GICE, Comrade Anthony Onoja, who addressed a press conference in Abuja on Friday, said, “N50billion diverted LGA funds, dollar video and N1billion naira probe seem to have all been swept under the carpet. It’s been over 2,200 days since the dollar video scandal broke and yet EFCC is silent.”

The activists urged well meaning Nigerians and relevant international organizations to join in stopping the EFCC from further insulting the sensibilities of Nigerians by calling for the immediate arrest and prosecution of Ganduje.

“The chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) must resign from his position if he fails to arrest and prosecute Governor Ganduje in line with our extant laws.

“The continued silence of the EFCC despite the monumental corruption allegations against Ganduje, despite the many petitions, the avalanche of evidence(s) available and protest from various groups and the Kano state government to probe and bring Ganduje to book is no longer golden. It also negates its constant rebuttal of keeping sacred cows.

“The general perception of Nigerians now is that the EFCC, as it is, has abandoned its original mandate by becoming a political tool in the hands of the government of the day for eliminating political rivals and perceived enemies,” Onoja said.

He added that the EFCC was now seen by Nigerians as a major conduit of misappropriation of public funds and a tool for political persecution.

“While these perceptions have become increasingly prevalent, the agency has further justified and vindicated the majority of Nigerians that hold this view with its recent selective prosecution of alleged corrupt public officers; and allowing very corrupt ones to walk free after suppressing the wheel of justice from taking its full effect against them.

“An example of these sacred cows that have continued to walk free despite the monumental corruption allegations against him is the former governor of Kano and current National chairman of the ruling party, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje,” the activists said.

They stated: “It would be recalled that the Kano High Court was to arraign the former Kano Governor, Umaru Ganduje and his wife on April 17, 2024, over allegations of bribery and misappropriation of funds by the state government. Neither he nor his wife went to court. They also disrespected the court so much that they didn’t send a legal representation.

“The case was adjourned to 29th April but was stalled again. No representation, no appearance. Ganduje was not present. The case was again adjourned to May 16, and on that day, arraignment was rescheduled to June 5. Still, the former governor, who no longer has immunity under our extant laws and is not above the laws of Nigeria by virtue of being the Chairman of the ruling party, did not show up. No representation still.

“The last arraignment was supposed to be July 11. At the resumed proceedings on July 11, Ganduje and his co-defendants were again absent. The judge declined a prayer by the prosecution counsel for a warrant of arrest but ruled that the defendants could be tried in absentia.”

According to them, while the creation of the EFCC by the Obasanjo administration was greeted with commendations, EFCC has derailed.

“Finally, our group is of the considered view that perhaps if the EFCC in its current form is disbanded because of its constitutional illegality as pointed out by the states in the current case against the EFCC at the Apex Court, it would be able to perform its real functions of stamping out corruption when its law is properly enacted,” the CSOs added.

Lagos Lawmakers Seek Collaboration To End Food Insecurity

– as council chairman wants subsidy on agric products

Lawmakers of the Lagos State House of Assembly on Friday held simultaneous stakeholders’ meetings with their constituents with renewed commitments to boost food security and sufficiency in the state.

They also called for collaboration by the stakeholders to end food insecurity.

Speaking in his Agege Constituency 1, the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, identified food insecurity as a multi-faceted challenge requiring the efforts of the government and the people to resolve.

This year’s stakeholders’ meeting is the ninth in the series and has the theme: ‘Ensuring Food Security for Sustainable Future: Youth Participation and Home-Grown Farming’.

Dr. Obasa said the Lagos Assembly was committed to ensuring food security in line with the United Nation’s sustainable
development goals of eradication of poverty.

“We at the Lagos State House of Assembly are committed to making Lagos an producing state and not just a consuming state in the agriculture value chain to tackle the present-day reality of food insufficiency.

“Our commitment is exemplified through transformational laws and policy supervision in the agricultural sector,” he said noting that with the collaboration of the Assembly, the government of the state has made giant strides in the agriculture sector.

He listed some of the agricultural initiatives to include the setting up of the 34-hectare Ikorodu Fish
Farm Estate which has the capacity to produce and
process 10,000 tons of fish per year partnering
with 400 fish farmers in the State

He mentioned the AGRIC-YES
programme and “the Oke-Aro and Gberigbe Pig Farm Estates that currently partners with 1,200 farmers and have the capacity of housing and processing 88,000 mature pigs per annum.

“It is important to reiterate that, on our part as lawmakers, we have also created an enabling
environment for farming activities to thrive in the state,
particularly through the passage of anti-open grazing of livestock Law in September, 2021.”

He said to achieve food sufficiency, farming capacity needs to be widened while residents should consider animal husbandry.

In his opening remarks, the chairman of Agege Local Government Area, Ganiyu Egunjobi, identified insecurity and non-availability of low interest loan for the youth population as responsible for the food crisis.

“This meeting cannot come at a better time. The problem responsible for the food shortage are many among which are insecurity that has prevented many farmers from accessing their farms. Farming in Nigeria is no longer attractive to the teeming youths.

“I want to suggest to the government at all levels to subsidise farming and also give loans at very low interest to farmers. The government should also improve on existing physical infrastructures in farming communities that would discourage urban migration and encourage youths to embrace farming. Farming and youth unemployment are recurring issues which require multidimensional interventions to tackle,” he said.

The keynote speaker, Dr. Akinyemi Olusegun of the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture, urged the youths and residents in the state to engage in urban farming.

“In Lagos, we are more than 22 million and as a result we have a huge need for food. People want to eat and engage in food business,” he said urging youths to focus on home-grown farming.

Eromosele Ebhomele
Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly