The Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, on Wednesday denied appointing a suspected bandit, Bashir Hadejia, into his cabinet.
The gun runner was arrested by security agents for alleged treason last week.
Following the suspect’s arrest, a letter of his appointment dated October 27, 2023, with the name of the Secretary to the Zamfara State Government, Abubakar M. Nakwada, appearing on the document surfaced on social media to send a shock wave across the state.
Hadejia served as a special adviser to the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, during his time as governor of Zamfara State.
Governor Lawal, who featured in a Channels Television’s programme, Politics Today, urged the people of Zamfara State to disregard the claim.
He said the letter on the appointment of the bandit was fake.
The governor reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to transparency and accountability in the state.
Lawal said: “Let me make a categorical statement here. I did not appoint Hadejia as a Special Adviser.
“If you look at the letter heading itself with the date, something is fishy somewhere. We issued a statement that we had nothing to do with that, that was a forged letter.
“Whenever I appoint advisers, I usually tell the media that I have appointed X, Y, and Z in different positions. I challenge anybody to show me where we made that kind of statement.”
Join the conversation
Opinions
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
Donate Now
