Zamfara Gov accused of aiding diversion of LG funds into few pockets

Governor Dauda Lawal has been accused of aiding the hijacking and diversion of funds meant for local government development across Zamfara State.

The allegation is contained in a statement issued by a civic advocacy organisation, Zamfara Accountability and Development Coalition (ZADC), on Sunday, May 18, 2025.

The group fingered top officials of the Zamfara government, including the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, the Commissioner for Finance, the Accountant-General, and the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, as part of the alleged illegal funds diversion.

It claimed the quartet had formed a “self-serving alliance” that controls and misappropriates local council allocations.

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“These individuals have captured the financial architecture of Zamfara’s 14 local governments. Their actions amount to economic sabotage and a betrayal of public trust,” the statement signed by ZADC president, Salisu Bako Maradun, read.

ZADC said funds sent to local governments from the Federation Account are routinely withheld and mismanaged at the state level, leaving the local councils unable to deliver basic services or execute projects that could ease residents' suffering.

“Local governments in Zamfara have become ceremonial offices. The real work of looting is done in Gusau. Month after month, huge allocations arrive, but they disappear before they reach the grassroots,” the group said.

According to the group, this alleged financial malpractice is responsible for the worsening state of infrastructure and public services in rural areas of Zamfara, where insecurity, poverty, and neglect continue to define daily life.

“Health centres have no medicines, schools are empty shells, and rural roads are death traps. Yet the officials at the top are living in obscene luxury,” ZADC said.

Group says Governor Lawal complicit

According to the group, despite widespread reports of mismanagement under his watch, Governor Lawal enabled the rot through silence and inaction.

“Governor Lawal cannot continue to look the other way while Zamfara’s commonwealth is stolen in broad daylight. His failure to act has emboldened those bleeding the state dry,” the group stated.

They also describe the state’s Joint Allocation Committee (JAC) as compromised and opaque, claiming that local government chairpersons are kept in the dark about the figures shared each month.

ZADC claimed that the state has received billions of naira in local government allocations over the past six months, yet there has been “zero reflection” of that money in any council area.

“Communities in Talata Mafara, Maru, Bukkuyum, and Tsafe have not seen any government project in over a year. The same can be said for Gummi, Kaura-Namoda, and Bakura. This is not just neglect. It is organised looting,” it said.

The group, therefore, called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to launch a full investigation into the finances of Zamfara’s local government ministry and arrest those found culpable.

ZADC noted that the people of Zamfara have suffered enough and can no longer afford to have their future traded by those in power.

“This is a state battling chronic insecurity, mass unemployment, and underdevelopment. Yet those in charge of local government finances are behaving like warlords in a conquered territory,” the statement added.

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It concluded by demanding that all stolen funds be recovered and channelled back to community projects to give Zamfara’s grassroots a fighting chance.

“We want every kobo accounted for. Zamfara belongs to its people, not a few godfathers and greedy bureaucrats. This impunity must stop now,” the group declared.