A Youth Wing Mobilisation Vanguard under the auspices of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Zamfara State has berated the State governor, Dauda Lawal, over his alleged media attacks against the military.
Governor Lawal had recently claimed that the military was not helping matters in the ongoing fight against insecurity in Zamfara State.
But, the State chairman of the group, Alhaji Ashiru Tukur, in a statement signed and made available to journalists on Wednesday, described the governor’s comments on a national television as an “uninspiring attitude” against the hierarchy of the Nigerian military and the defence team.
“We would not have borther ourselves to respond to some of Mr. Governor’s claims during that live session on a national television, except the need to set the record straight especially on the priceless sacrifices the Nigerian military and other security agencies involved in tackling insecurity in Zamfara are making,” Tukur stated.
The group noted that the governor’s political rivalry with his predecessor and current Minister of State for Defence, Mohammed Bello Matawalle, has overshadowed his good governance approach in the past one year in office, hence making it difficult for him to protect the lives and properties of Zamfara people.
The group also described the governor’s recent verbal attacks against the Minister of State for Defence and soldiers who are sacrificing their lives daily to restore peace and security in the state as unbecoming of a Chief Executive like him.
“That interview has shown Mr. Governor’s weakness, poor judgement, and an inappropriate statement from someone who is supposed to accept responsibility for his failure to secure the lives and property of Zamfara people as promised when he assumed office about a year ago.
“His spirit-damping comment against the military hierarchy of not being committed to ending banditry challenges despite having security briefings on his table has just further proved his critics right that he was never ready to govern the state.
“His inability to offer meaningful support to the ongoing military operations in the state and North-West as a whole.
“He claimed that because he does not have control over the military and other security apparatuses in the state, he set up a local security outfit.
“How has that solved the problem especially as members of his local security are targeting his political ‘enemies’ and not the bandits who have brought the state to its knees under his watch.
“This is a governor who has abandoned his primary duty of providing good governance to our people but prefers flying from one country to the other with state resources that have not translated to any meaningful growth and development in the state.
“The recent attacks on people in Maradun, Tsafe, Zurmi, and other villages in Zamfara have nothing to do with the Minister of State for Defence because he is instrumental to the improved military presence and operations we see in the state and other neigbouring states respectively.
“Just recently, Gusau, Zamfara State capital was attacked multiple times and many people were kidnapped and some lost their lives, including a son of Dauda’s bosom friend Alhaji Musa Mallaha. He could not even secure his local government which is just a stone’s throw from Government House,” Tukur further explained.
The group noted that the failure by the state government to cooperate and synergise with conventional security personnel may have been responsible for escalating attacks in the state
“Why should Zamfara be different? As a former Governor of Jigawa State and current Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, has not been blamed for insecurity by his successor. Bandits attacked and kidnapped many people in Kiyawa and some areas of Jigawa State, yet the governor didn’t apportion blame,” he added.
The group urged the governor not to allow his open grudges and enmity against his predecessor to becloud his focus.
It also called for the need for synergy to secure Zamfara state and make it an investment hub in the North-West region.
“He should be reminded that the era of political campaigning is over, Zamfara people need to see his actions as promised while taking oath of office,” the group stated.