- I Met Only N4m in Govt Account
By Kolawole Ojebisi
The governor of Zamfara State, Dauda Lawal, has stated that he’s averse to borrowing money from international and other financial institutions as a conduit for siphoning public funds.
Lawal made this claim when asked how much he had borrowed since assuming office during an interview with the Dailytrust on Wednesday published on the news platform’s website today.
He said, “Let me make it categorically clear, I, Dauda Lawal, Governor of Zamfara State, has not borrowed a single kobo from any financial institution since assuming office. Today is June 18 2025, and I remain financially okay.
“There’s nothing wrong with borrowing if you have projects to show for it. But I am against borrowing just to steal. As we speak, I’m still repaying debts from the previous administration. I can show you the documents—N1.5 billion in direct deductions, now reduced to N1.118 billion from the last FAAC allocation.
“We were owing N1.6 billion to KEDCO for electricity. When I came in, the government offices had no power. I paid that debt. There was not even one official car for the governor when I assumed office. Our liaison office in Kaduna was in litigation—I paid N600 million to retrieve it. We’re still fixing the Abuja liaison office, but it’s not a priority because I already have a place in Abuja.
“Again, I haven’t borrowed, and I don’t plan to. But if the need arises in the future, we’ll consider it. Right now, we are financially stable”.
While lamenting how borrowing by his predecessors affected the size of the treasury and magnitude of challenges bequeathed to him, Lawal said, “Let me tell you what hit me the most when I took over. First, there was a four-month salary backlog—deliberately created.
“But when I checked the treasury, there was no money. And when I tell people that I met N4 million, they laugh. But it’s a fact. I was a banker.”
Although Lawal did not mention names, you will recall that his two successive predecessors, Abdulaziz Abubakar Yari and Bello Matawalle, have alleged cases of financial misconduct hanging around their necks.
Yari’s alleged case is in connection with N22 billion Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) fund purportedly executed together with former Accountant-general of the federation, Ahmed Idris.
Matawalle, in his own case, has a pending allegation of embezzling over N528 billion during his tenure before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
The anti-graft agency swung into action following a petition submitted by the All Progressives Congress Young Leaders Alliance (APC-YLA) against Matawalle.
