Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State has alleged that he inherited a depleted treasury from his predecessor, former Governor Bello Matawalle. Lawal made these statements during an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today.

According to Lawal, upon taking office, he discovered that more than N250 billion was unaccounted for under Matawalle’s administration. He referred to an earlier pronouncement by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on May 21, 2023, which claimed that N70 billion had been stolen. Lawal described this figure as an understatement.

He revealed, “When I assumed office, I found that there was no money in the Zamfara State Government account—just an empty vault. We had a backlog of salaries for four months and faced an alarming situation where no Zamfara indigene had taken WAEC or NECO exams for three years. I had to clear N1.3 billion owed to NECO and N1.6 billion owed to WAEC just to ensure that students received their certificates.”

Despite these challenges, Lawal emphasized that he has never paid or negotiated with bandits, a practice he firmly opposes. Zamfara remains one of the states most severely impacted by banditry in the North West region. Former Governor Matawalle, now serving as Minister of State for Defence, has consistently denied allegations of financial mismanagement and claims that he handed over an empty treasury.