Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara state has said he inherited an empty treasury from his predecessor.
Lawal stated this during an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today.
He added that when he assumed office, he realized that over N250 billion was not accounted for under former Governor Bello Matawalle.
“EFCC made a pronouncement sometime around May 21, 2023 or there about that it was alleging that N70 billion was stolen. That means before I took over. By the time I took over, I realized that that N70 billion they mentioned was a child’s play.”
“So far based on available records, we realized over N250 billion was not accounted for. It is very funny. Let me explain to you the state I inherited. I inherited a very dysfunctional state. When I took over there was no N4 million in Zamfara State Government account – just empty.
“There was a backlog of salaries for four months. For three years. none of Zamfara indigene wrote either WAEC or NECO. I had to settle N1.3 billion for NECO and N1.6 billion for WAEC. Some of the students got their certificates after we settled WAEC and NECO.”
However, the governor said that he has never given a dime to bandits, saying he would never negotiate with them.
Zamfara is one of the states badly affected by banditry in the North West region.
Matawalle, now Minister of State for Defence, has severally denied handing over empty treasury to his successor.