The Zamfara State Government has alleged that the former state governor, Bello Matawalle, received fat allocation and obtained loans, yet left a backlog in gratuity when he left office.
The Commissioner of Budget and Planning, Abdulmalik Abubakar Gajam, said the Minister of State for Defence, Matawalle, received ₦290 billion as allocation, ₦133 billion as local government allocation and obtained a loan of ₦105 billion but could not pay gratuity to retirees.
Gajam made the allegation on Thursday while speaking in an interview with Arise TV. “When we came on board, we inherited a government from the present state defence minister (Matawalle). In those four years, they have received a fat allocation of ₦290 billion, local government allocation of ₦133 billion and then collected a loan of ₦105 billion but we inherited a government that there was backlog in gratuity,” he said.
Gajam stated that the government of Governor Dauda Lawal has taken education seriously. He added that Lawal was committed to turning the state around through effective governance.
“I believe we haven’t gotten it right, I believe we have been sentimental and I believe the leadership of that state before now took government for granted. I think governance has to be a very serious business. That is the reason for the declaration of the state of emergency by his excellency Dr. Dauda Lawal on the area of education, gave us the room to start reconstruction and rehabilitation of over 300 primary schools.
“On education, we have designated primary schools, designated secondary schools and then the tertiary institutions, their infrastructure is completely almost to nothing and then we talk about primary health care, with this insecurity crisis in most of this villages, there are no functioning primary healthcare system,” Gajam stated.
The Zamfara State Commissioner of Budget and Planning assured that Governor Lawal would pay the ₦70,000 minimum wage to civil servants in the state. He, however, noted that the increase in minimum wage may not solve the economic crisis in the country.
“The moment these committees finish up clearing and making sure they have this list of individuals that are legitimate.
“When you talk about food items rising and then giving minimum wage will solve that problem, eventually there will be an issue with that because you have to create productivity for sustainability,” he added.
