Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle, has attributed his failure to secure a second term to his opposition to the naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Speaking during an interview with DW Hausa on Thursday, the governor alleged that some individuals in the Federal Government worked against his re-election bid in the just concluded gubernatorial election in the state.
Matawalle revealed that prior to the elections, there were plots to punish himself, Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano State Governor) and Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna State Governor) over their stance on the naira policy. The trio had taken the Federal Government to the Supreme Court over the scarcity of cash occasioned by the CBN’s cashless policy.
The Governor lamented that all polling units in the state were flooded with military officers with the aim of intimidating voters. “Three days to the gubernatorial election, they sent over 300 vehicles conveying soldiers into Zamfara. Such a high number of soldiers! If they could send them to us to fight insecurity, it would be better. But they only sent them during elections,” he added.
Meanwhile, Uba Sani of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and anointed candidate of El-Rufai narrowly escaped defeat, but Ganduje’s candidate, Nasir Gawuna, was beaten by Abba Kabir Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).
It is worth noting that Matawalle’s claims have not been independently verified. Nevertheless, his allegations highlight the political and economic divisions in Nigeria and the role that both factors can play in determining electoral outcomes.
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