By Onyewuchi Ojinnaka
The Zamfara State governor, Bello Matawalle, has described as unfair comments made against him by his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) colleagues from the South South with respect of the gold control by his state.
He said he is particularly not happy with the recent comments from his South South counterparts because it was hostile.
The South South leaders through Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, had argued that since Zamfara controls its gold, the South South should also be allowed to control its own mineral resources.
But in a statement on Friday, November 27, Matawalle through his media aide, Zailani Bappa, congratulated the Ebonyi state governor, David Umahi for his bold decision to leave the PDP just as he would also leave because of what he called the bad blood in the party.
“PDP is partly responsible for Mr Umahi’s defection to the ruling All Progressives Congress because everyone feels welcome only in a house where he feels comfortable.
“If this trend of generating bad blood amongst us continues unabated, our great party will increasingly be on the receiving end as we move towards the election year, 2023,” the Zamfara governor said.
Governor Matawalle added: “I am having a very bad experience of recent from some of my PDP governor colleagues which I still find very puzzling.
For instance, the South-South governors who had been accusing me in the media are PDP Governors. They are also the same people who brewed controversy over the so-called Zamfara gold, which was premised on deliberate misinformation and outright lies. Surprisingly, it is the APC Federal Government which has all the correct records on the gold mining issue that came out to defend me in this saga.
“As PDP colleagues, I expected the governors to contact me first and find out my own side of the story before unleashing their venom in the media. As the brouhaha lasted, I commended President Muhammadu Buhari for being supportive of our efforts to organise the economic sector in the state to avoid using the mineral deposits to promote insecurity in our dear state.
“Today, the Federal Government is issuing licences to deserving companies to operate in the mining sector in the state. The biggest company with an investment of billions of naira is owned by a Nigerian from Anambra state.
And I wonder where the idea of Zamfara state owning the gold mines emanated from. As at now, the state government does not have a hand in any of the mining activity in the state because the constitution does not empower us to do so,” Matawalle said.
The governor, therefore, implored the South-South governors “to eschew intellectual idleness and support its people to operate modular refineries as provided by the law and lift their people out of fear rather than sit behind and start chasing shadows rather than substance.