In 2023 Dauda Lawal of the opposition People's Democratic Party won the Zamfara governorship defeating Bello Matawalle of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who had presided over a near-total breakdown of security in the state...
One such minister is Bello Matawalle a former governor of Zamfara a state plagued by insecurity and overrun by illegal gold miners working for an illicit consortium...
Two former governors – Bello Matawalle and Mohammed Badaru – who jointly oversee the Ministry of Defence scored zero when the report was sent to the president in May...
They are: Abubakar Atiku Bagudu (Budget Minister) Mohammed Badaru Abubakar (Defence Minister) Dave Umahi (Works Minister) Nyesom Wike (Federal Capital Territory Minister) Gboyega Oyetola (Minister of Marine and Blue Economy) Ibrahim Gaidam (Police Affairs Minister) and Bello Matawalle (Minister State for Defence)...
The two defence ministers – Mohammed Badaru and Bello Matawalle – have been described as inefficient by northern leaders...
Defence ministers Mohammed Badaru Abubakar and Bello Matawalle have also been lambasted for lacking any policies to address the country's many security challenges as has National Security Advisor Nuhu Ribadu...
In neighbouring Zamfara which has been plagued by attacks from Islamist insurgents and criminal gangs APC Governor Bello Matawalle had lost to Dauda Lawal the PDP candidate...
Other ex-governors given high-spending ministries include: Minister of Works Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State whose 2020 defection to the APC expanded its footing in the opposition-held south-east; Minister of Police Ibrahim Gaidam who ran Yobe State for ten years before moving to the senate; Minister of Defence Mohammed Badaru Abubakar of Jigawa State; and Minister of State for Defence Bello Matawalle a former teacher whose appointment is puzzling given banditry spiked while he was governor of Zamfara State...
PRESIDENT BOLA TINUBU'S 46-PERSON MINISTERIAL TEAM Post – name (state age profession) SKILL-BRINGERS (7) Communications – Olatunbosun Tijani (Ogun 46 tech entrepreneur) Education – Tahir Mamman (Adamawa 69 academic administrator) Finance – Wale Edun (Ogun 61 banker) Foreign Affairs – Yusuf Maitama Tuggar (Bauchi 56 politician/diplomat/oil executive) Health – Muhammed Ali Pate (Bauchi 54 medicine/public health) Health (deputy) – Tunji Alausa (Lagos 56 medicine) Housing – Ahmed Musa Dangiwa (Katsina 60 banker/construction executive) THE EX-GOVERNORS (9) Budget – Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi 61 ex-governor) Defence – Mohammed Badaru Abubakar (Jigawa 60 ex-governor) Defence (deputy) – Bello Matawalle (Zamfara 61 ex-governor) Federal Capital Territory – Nyesom Wike (Rivers 55 ex-governor) Labour and Employment – Simon Lalong (Plateau 60 ex-governor) Marine and Blue Economy – Adegboyega Oyetola (Osun 68 ex-governor) Petroleum Resources – President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Police Affairs – Ibrahim Gaidam (Yobe 66 ex-governor) Works – David Umahi (Ebonyi 60 ex-governor) ALLIES AND CRONIES (19) Agriculture and Food Security – Abubakar Kyari (Borno 60 career politician) Agriculture and Food Security (deputy) – Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi (Niger 56 politician) Art Culture and the Creative Economy – Hannatu Musawa (Katsina 43 lawyer) Aviation – Festus Keyamo (Delta 53 lawyer) Housing (deputy) – Abdullahi Tijjani Gwarzo (Kano 62 career politician) Information – Mohammed Idris 'Malagi' (Niger 57 newspaper editor) Innovation Science and Technology – Uche Nnaji (Enugu 60 business/politician) Attorney General and Justice – Lateef Fagbemi (Kwara 64 lawyer) Niger Delta – Abubakar Momoh (Edo 62 career politician) Petroleum/Oil (deputy) – Heineken Lokpobiri (Bayelsa 56 career politician) Power – Adebayo Adelabu (Oyo 52 banker) Solid Minerals – Dele Alake (Ekiti 66 journalist) Special Duties – Zephaniah Jisalo (FCT 53 career politician) Sports – John Owan Enoh (Cross River 57 career politician) Steel Development – Shuaibu Abubakar Audu (Kogi 42 banker) Steel Development (deputy) – Uba Maigari Ahmadu (Taraba 57 career politician) Transportation – Sa'idu Ahmed Alkali (Gombe 54 career politician) Water Resources (deputy) – Bello Muhammad Goronyo (Sokoto 58 career politician) Women's Affairs – Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye (Anambra 50 business) THE SPONSORED (11) Education (deputy) – Yusuf Tanko Sununu (Kebbi 56 medicine) Environment (deputy) – Ishak Salako (Ogun 64 medicine) Federal Capital Territory (deputy) – Mairiya Mahmud (Kano 47 medicine) Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation – Betta Edu (Cross River 36 politician) Industry Trade and Investment – Doris Uzoka-Anite (Imo 42 finance) Interior – Olubunmi Tunji Ojo (Ondo 41 business/politician) Labour and Employment (deputy) – Nkiru Onyejeocha (Abia 54 career politician) Petroleum/Gas (deputy) – Ekperikpe Ekpo (Akwa Ibom ~50 career politician) Police Affairs (deputy) – Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim (Nasarawa 43 business/civil service) Tourism – Lola Ade-John (Lagos 60 consultant) Water Resources – Joseph Utsev (Benue 43 administrator) * President Tinubu will name at least one more minister because he has yet to nominate a minister from Kaduna State (Nigeria's constitution requires that the President nominate at least one minister from each state)...
The pattern was followed for Bello Matawalle ex-Governor of Zamfara a state brought to its knees by bandits last year...
They include another four state governors: Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi Adegboyega of Osun Simon Lalong of Plateau and Bello Matawalle of Zamfara state...
Those ruling party governors – including Kaduna's Nasir el Rufai Kogi's Yahaya Bello Zamfara's Bello Matawalle and Niger's Sani Bello – who filed petitions over the naira replacement at the Supreme Court in early February have lambasted Emefiele as part of their campaign rhetoric...
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