The immediate past governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, has clarified that his government did not embezzle the N11 billion allocated for the cargo airport project, despite allegations made by the current state Governor, Dauda Lawal.
During an inspection of the cargo airport, Lawal expressed concerns about the alleged misuse of the N11 billion allocated for the project.
He stated that the former Governor would need to provide documentation to account for the funds used in executing the airport project.
In a swift reaction, Matawalle, now the Minister of State for Defence, released a statement on his behalf. The statement was signed by his former Commissioner for Information, Ibrahim Dosara, and made available to the Saturday Tribune.
It described the allegations made by the current governor as baseless and unfounded.
The statement clarified that the “immediate past government under Hon. Bello Mohammed Matawallen Maradun inherited the Cargo Airport Project from its predecessor.
“As government is a continuous process, former Gov. Matawalle saw the need to consider completing the project for its numerous benefits to the people of the state and beyond.
“I want to bring to the attention of the general public that it is only Zamfara State that has no airport of its own up to the time of this press statement in this country.
“After due deliberations in council, it was agreed that the project be continued. As a follow-up to the state Executive Council’s resolution and decision on the project, contractors were invited to bid for the contract to execute the Cargo Airport Project.
“After reaching an agreement and in consultation with the Federal Airport Authority, the Matawalle government immediately mobilised the contractors to the site to handle the project to its timely completion.
“In the first instance, a bill of N28 billion (twenty-eight billion naira) was submitted to the government for consideration.
However, due to the foresight and prudence of former Gov Matawalle, his government rejected the bill, which the former Gov. considered outrageous and crazy.
“The former governor, therefore, insisted that the amount be downsized to a considerable sum, which was reduced to N11 billion (eight billion Naira only).
“For those who are unaware of the funding process of this project, let me bring it to your knowledge that the project was being funded through a banking arrangement known as ‘Contract financing.’
“This means an agreement between the Zamfara State government and some private companies involving funding banks that released money only upon the satisfaction that the certificates raised by the government are commensurate with the work done on-site. Mr Lawal Dare, being an expert banker, knows what this means.
According to Matawalle, “I wonder how monies meant for the project under this banking arrangement could have been embezzled by the former Governor.
“The contractor, the consultant, and the supervising bank are all available for the government of Dauda Lawal to investigate and ascertain the reality of things regarding the contract.
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