Dauda Lawal, the governor of Zamfara State, has spoken candidly about the difficulties and advancements his administration has encountered since taking office.
Lawal claimed in an interview with Arise TV on Monday that Zamfara was a “mess in every aspect” when he succeeded former governor Bello Matawalle, with a defunct educational system, inadequate healthcare, high levels of insecurity, and debt.
“Zamfara State was in a complete mess when I took over as governor, from security at the highest level to education and healthcare at the lowest, and human development capacity was virtually nonexistent. This
When I took over, Zamfara State had been without water for five months, but we were able to fix that in three days. The liabilities were actually unthinkable, but as a leader, I had to figure out how to handle that,” he said.
Governor Lawal described the financial obligations he inherited when he assumed office and the backlog of outstanding debts, pensions, and salary he had to pay off.
He went on, “We had a lot of obligations and nothing in our treasury when I took over. My inheritance was merely N4 million. The documents contain a variety of problems, including a four-and-a-half-month salary backlog, 1.6 billion in judicial debt, 1.6 billion in WAEC debt, 1.4 billion in NECO debt, and numerous other difficulties that I had to deal with directly.
In Zamfara State, civil servants were paid 7,000 naira when I took over, which was the same for all state and local governments. I had to hurry and do everything it took to get it up to the 30,000 naira minimum salary.
Also, as of last month, I was able to pay everyone the 16.5 billion that pensioners had not received since 2011. It’s been cleared. We are currently paying the 70,000 minimum wage after clearing all civil servants from the 2011 pension.
About The Author
