The Zamfara State government has insisted that the immediate-past governor of the state, Bello Matawalle, mismanaged billions of naira allocated for the Gusau Cargo Airport project.
The state governor, Dauda Lawal, on Friday accused Mr Matawalle of embezzling over N11 billion meant for the airport project awarded to Avic International Engineering Limited.
But Mr Matawalle, who is the current minister of state for defence, denied the allegations.
In a statement by his former commissioner of information, Ibrahim Dosara, Mr Matawalle said the accusation was nothing but a calculated mischief and diversionary tactics of Mr Lawal.
“He specialises in diverting people’s attention from his insensitivity, failure, and inability to fulfil his campaign promises on tackling security concerns bedevilling the state immediately after his assumption of office,” Mr Matawalle said.
But in a counter statement issued Sunday by the spokesperson for the governor, Sulaiman Idris, the state government described the minister’s response as a “blatant violation of trust”.
Mr Idris, who also presented the payment receipts to the contractor, lamented that the bad financial status of the state was caused by the previous administration.
According to him, the former governor, in violation of due process, directed the ministry of Local Government to withdraw N1 billion from the Local Government Joint Account on October 25, 2021, and pay the sum of N825 million to the contractors without any valuation.
“The Zamfara State Government would ordinarily not respond to the issues, but as a responsible government, we feel compelled to provide the facts following his denial of the alleged embezzlement”, he said.
He added that the alleged embezzlement of public resources through the airport project was just a tiny part of many other acts of theft and financial recklessness committed through various incomplete projects.
The statement partly reads, “It is doubtful that the project cost was reduced from N28 billion to N11 billion in round figures. No reputable bidder would agree to a drastic reduction of 61% in cost without a corresponding reduction in the scope of work. This raises questions about the integrity of the bidding process. Matawalle is seemingly trying to cast doubt on the credibility of their contractor.
Mr Idris explained that the claimed by the former governor that the airport project was financed through what he called “contract financing” was false.
“The former governor should have asked before embarrassing himself. It is known as the ‘Contract Financing Facility (CFF)’, which happens between the bank and the contractor. The government isn’t involved at all. All available documents indicate that the contractors were paid using funds from the state government and not through the Contract Financing Facility CFF.
