Dauda Lawal, governor of Zamfara, says he did not appoint
Bashir Hadejia, a politician and businessman who was reportedly arrested for
alleged terrorism.
Speaking in an interview on Channels Television on
Wednesday, Lawal said the purported appointment letter was not issued by the
Zamfara state government.
BACKGROUND
Hadejia was reportedly arrested by the force intelligence
department-intelligence response team (FID-IRT) over alleged “treason and
subversion against the state”.
He was an assistant on special assignments to Bello
Matawalle, ex-governor of Zamfara.
Hadejia appeared in a slew of photographs with Matawalle —
when the latter was Zamfara governor.
On August 24, 2020, Matawalle, alongside Hadejia, visited
Muhammadu Buhari at the state house in Abuja and presented gold bars mined in
Zamfara to the then president.
Shortly after Hadejia’s alleged arrest, a video appeared on
social media showing the former Matawalle aide displaying what appears to be
gold bars, with boxes bearing the inscription: ‘Central Bank of Libya’.
A letter indicating that Hadejia was purportedly appointed
as technical adviser on mining to Lawal also circulated on social media.
Pictures showing Hadejia with President Bola Tinubu; Femi
Gbajabiamila, chief of staff to the president; Nuhu Ribadu, national security
adviser; and other political bigwigs, have elicited mixed reactions on social
media.
Security agencies have been coy on Hadejia’s alleged arrest
since the rumours began swirling a fortnight ago.
‘SOMETHING IS FISHY’
Speaking during the interview, the Zamfara governor said the
appointment letter was a forgery.
Lawal said his administration usually issues statements
whenever appointments are made, adding that the purported appointment of
Hadejia cannot be seen anywhere.
“I did not employ Hadejia as a special adviser. If you look
at the letterhead itself and the date, you will know something is fishy
somewhere,” the governor said.
“We issued a
statement that we had nothing to do with that. That was a forged letter. All my
advisers, when I appoint them, I usually tell the media that I have appointed XYZ
in these positions.
“I challenge anybody to show me where we made that kind of
statement. We are very transparent with anything we do.
“There was never
anywhere we mentioned that we appointed Hadejia as adviser but check any other
adviser we appointed in Zamfara. There is always news out there in the media.”
The governor added that the “forged” letter was widely
circulated for political reasons.
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