Why the entire government of Zamfara state was dissolved
Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle, in a military style press release on Tuesday dissolved his entire State Executive Council with immediate effect.
A tweet on the governor’s handle reads “The State Executive council is hereby dissolved with immediate effect. The Secretary to the State Government, Chief of staff and Deputy chief of staff are relieved of their duties. All chairmen, members of the state commission and boards of various agencies are hereby dissolved.”
The State Executive council is hereby dissolved with immediate effect. The Secretary to the State Government, Chief of staff and Deputy chief of staff are relieved of their duties. All chairmen, members of the state commission and boards of various agencies are hereby dissolved
— Dr. Bello Matawalle (@Bellomatawalle1) June 1, 2021
The Governor’s Special Adviser on Public Enlightenment, Media and Communications, Zailani Bappa, gave further clarification in a different statement.
He disclosed that governor Matawalle also directed the dissolution of the chairmen and members of the state commissions, as well as the boards of various agencies.
He, however, stated that the directive does not affect commissions provided for by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“In view of this directive, all honorable commissioners would hand over affairs of their ministries to their respective permanent secretaries, except Ministry of Security and Home Affairs which will be overseen by Retired DIG Mohammed Ibrahim Tsafe.
“Chairmen of commissions and boards are hereby directed to hand over to their most senior directors. The Head of Service will oversee the office of the Secretary to the State Government,” the statement said.
Similarly, Governor Matawalle has approved the suspension of the Emir of Dansadau, Hussaini Umar, with immediate effect.
He, therefore, directed the District Head of Dansadau, Nasiru Muhammad, to oversee the affairs of the emirate.
The governor, who also suspended the District Head of Nasarawa Mailayi, Bello Wakkala, set up a committee to investigate the activities of the suspended traditional title holders of Dansadau and Nassarawa Mailayi.
Tsafe is the chairman of the committee which has as members, Yusuf Kanoma, Ibrahim Tukur, Ahmad Kanoma, Abdullahi Dalla, and Kabir Maru, as well as Abdurrashid Haruna as secretary.
“His Excellency also wishes to reiterate the order that government security agencies are to effectively implement the presidential order to shoot any bandit, person or group seen with guns other than those approved to lawfully carry guns,” the governor’s spokesman said in a separate statement
Why the entire government of Zamfara state was dissolved.
As for the traditional monarchs that were suspended, they were accused of aiding and abetting bandits in their domains.
Just last week in neighboring Katsina state, the emir of Kankara was also suspended on allegations of habouring bandits and kidnappers.
Zamfara state is one of the poorest states in Nigeria and one of the hardest hit by the security challenges in the country, many analysts have argued that these changes in personnel is to inject new ideas that will stimulate the state’s economy and possibly improve the security situation.
