Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, has said that he is still grappling with debts inherited from his predecessor, including liabilities from unremitted payments to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and backlogs of unpaid staff salaries and student examination fees.
Speaking on Wednesday on Channels Television’s Politics Today, the governor painted a dire picture of the situation he met on assumption of office in May 2023.
Lawal accused the Bello Matawalle administration of alleged financial mismanagement, citing the case of unremitted FIRS deductions.
“I’m still paying debts owed to the Federal Inland Revenue Service that were never remitted,” he claimed. “The money was diverted somewhere. By whom? Let the former administration account for it.”
The governor said the rot he inherited pushed him to declare a state of emergency in the education sector immediately after assuming office.
“We had to settle WAEC and NECO debts to the tune of ₦3.2 billion. We’ve worked on over 450 primary and secondary schools, and some tertiary institutions. We were always at the bottom, but I’m happy to say things are changing,” the governor said.
He added that his administration also inherited huge liabilities in scholarships and pensions, noting that pension arrears dating as far back as 2011—totalling ₦13.6 billion—had not been paid.
“Things were really, really bad when we took over. It is interesting to tell you that for two good years, our students didn’t write WAEC or NECO because of debts owed. The first thing we had to do was make a conscious effort to settle those debts so our students could write their exams. All pending certificates from the past have now been handed over.
“We’ve settled every pension and gratuity without borrowing a single kobo. It’s all from our internally generated revenue (IGR),” he noted.
‘Empty Treasury, IGR’
Responding to the ongoing controversy surrounding the state’s finances, Lawal disputed the claim by former Governor Matawalle that ₦14 billion was left in the treasury.
“What I met in the treasury of Zamfara State was ₦4 million. The facts are there,” Lawal stated. “When I took over, the IGR was just ₦90 million, and 90 percent of that came from PAYE (Pay-As-You-Earn). But the story has changed. I can comfortably tell you that we’re now making over ₦2 billion monthly.”
In contrast, official records during the Matawalle administration showed the IGR averaged ₦6.5 billion in 2022.
Asked if the discrepancy was due to data inconsistency or political posturing, Lawal challenged his predecessor’s camp to present verifiable evidence.
“I was a banker, so I know how finances work. If they had a contrary position to mine, they should have shown me the bank statements. If they had ₦14 billion, why couldn’t they pay four months’ backlog of salaries, or settle WAEC, NECO, and electricity bills? Even the Government House was disconnected when I took over,” he said.
“There was a handover note. Nowhere did it show they had such money. The banks are there. Let them provide a statement to back their claims.”
The governor also revealed that deductions of over ₦1.2 billion are being made monthly from the state’s FAAC allocation due to outstanding debts inherited from the previous government.
“Go and check with the Office of the Accountant-General and the Debt Management Office. We are still paying over ₦1.2 billion monthly through direct deductions. Yet, there are no visible projects to show for all that spending,” the governor said.
He also revealed that every local government area in Zamfara is now witnessing infrastructural development under his leadership.
Lawal said, “There is no single local government among the 14 in Zamfara without a project worth between ₦5 billion and ₦10 billion.”
The comments come amid an intensifying dispute between Governor Lawal and his predecessor over alleged mismanagement and conflicting financial claims.
Matawalle’s camp has insisted it left behind over ₦14 billion in bond proceeds, ₦2.6 billion in World Bank funds, and other grants. However, Lawal insists the state was effectively bankrupt when he took over, with massive debts, unpaid salaries, and halted development projects.
He also previously accused the former governor of embezzling funds meant for the abandoned Zamfara Cargo Airport project—a claim Matawalle has denied, stating the project was funded via “contract financing” tied to performance.
