Ibrahim Dosara, a former commissioner of information in the state, in a release on Saturday in Abuja, in an assessment of the mid-term administration of Governor Lawal, lamented how the state had gone backwards in most sectors.

The Governor of Zamfara State, Dauda Lawal, has been accused of failing to address the downturns in the health, education and security sectors of the state after two years in the saddle.

Ibrahim Dosara, a former commissioner of information in the state, in a release on Saturday in Abuja, in an assessment of the mid-term administration of Governor Lawal, lamented how the state had gone backwards in most sectors.

SaharaReporters reported in June how Governor Lawal was caught in a web of contradictions after claiming in a recent live television interview that his administration had not borrowed any money since assuming office in 2023.

However, official budget performance reports obtained by SaharaReporters showed that in the fourth quarter of 2023 alone, the Zamfara State Government under Dauda Lawal secured a total of N27.2 billion in domestic loans.

In addition, the fourth quarter report for 2024 shows that the Lawal administration also secured an international loan amounting to N6.8 billion, listed under “International Loans/Borrowings from Capital Market.”

These records bring the total amount of loans obtained by the Lawal administration within two years to N34 billion. 
Meanwhile in the release on Saturday, the former commissioner, Dosara noted that the state government instead of addressing the looming challenges was self-appraising and scoring itself high.
The ex-commissioner cited the health sector where "hospitals are grossly underfunded, seriously understaffed with mass exodus of doctors from the state, making healthcare delivery in Zamfara State the worse in Nigeria."

He said, "The Yariman Bakura Specialist Hospital, for instance,  was constructed at a cost of ₦799million under previous administrations. Governor Dauda's government claimed to have spent ₦9billion on the renovation and construction of doctors’ quarters. This staggering figure raises serious concerns.

"Equipment and installations removed in the process of the so-called renovation worth millions were reportedly missing, which could have been sufficient to cover any legitimate renovation costs.

"The ₦80billion contract for the reconstruction of the 105km Gusau–Dan Sadau road was awarded 7–8 months ago, yet, work has completely stopped and no explanation has been provided to the public. Is the funding insufficient, or was the project announcement simply another tactic to mislead the public?

"The road works in Gusau are clouded in secrecy. There is no evidence of compliance with due process. There seems to be neither executive involvement nor legislative oversight, as Executive Council was not constituted and the legislature was not inaugurated as at the time of the award. Contracts were awarded beyond the Governor’s legal threshold, in clear violation of procurement guidelines.

"The Gusau Airport Project was originally initiated under former Governor Mamuda Aliyu Shinkafi’s administration. Yari’s administration equally played key role in the preparation of the airport designs, social and environmental safeguards processes among others. The airport project gained more attention under Dr Bello Matawalle, who secured approvals and awarded the contract at a cost of ₦11.5billion. However, Governor Dauda re-awarded the same project that had reached an appreciable level at the woofing cost of ₦69 billion, and yet, there is no tangible progress to date."

The release added that the governor declared a state of emergency on education and health sectors, "however, such declarations require full prioritisation of the affected sectors over all others, something that has not been seen."

"Any declaration of state of emergency is expected to be followed by important development indicators that include teacher motivation and welfare, availability of instructional materials and facilities, teacher-pupil ratio increase which have all not been addressed by the current administration, instead, what is witnessed include overcrowded classes, inadequate teaching materials, dilapidated classes, mass failure in both internal and external examinations. Therefore, the declaration is far below the requirement to bring education to the required standard.

"Similarly, in the health sector, the hospitals are grossly underfunded, seriously understaffed with mass exodus of doctors from the state, making healthcare delivery in Zamfara state the worse in Nigeria.
The claim of renovating 450 schools and recruiting 500 teachers is illogical. How can 500 teachers be equitably distributed across 450 schools? More than half of the school-aged children remain out of school, and many schools still lack basic instructional materials. Declaring emergencies without corresponding action plans only serves as a distraction from deeper failures.

"The administration of Dauda Lawal claims to generate ₦2 billion monthly as internally generated revenue (IGR). This is far from reality, as actual independent IGR is estimated at around ₦300 million. Inflated figures include non-IGR components like Hajj funds and statutory allocations. It is disappointing that a Governor who claims to be a financial expert would mislead the public to this extent. Governor Dauda frequently and repeatedly claims he inherited only ₦4million from Matawalle’s administration.

Yet, he has refused to acknowledge  the ₦14 billion bond proceeds, ₦6.3billion UBE BESDA reward, ₦2.7billion NGCares World Bank Funds Investment, which yielded ₦49billion to his administration as a return from the investment of Matawale’s administration. In addition, Matawalle’s administration left $1.9million (USD) balance in the World Bank  ACReSAL account.

Governor Dauda’s electioneering campaign was anchored on restoring security within two weeks. Two years on, insecurity has rather worsened under Lawal’s administration which receives large amounts of money to deal with the state challenges. The situation has deteriorated to the extent that many villages have been attacked and villagers killed, kidnapped or displaced. Agriculture is adversely suffering as bandits have taken the periphery. This is responsible for the pervasive poverty across the state. Even Gusau, the state capital, is no longer safe. By 6pm, motorists are restricted from using the highways across Zamfara state.

"In summary, Governor Dauda Lawal has demonstrated his lack of good knowledge and understanding of public sector governance. His much-hyped seven-point agenda has yielded no measurable results. Education, healthcare, infrastructure, and security have all deteriorated."