The Yoruba Youth Council has deplored what it described as worrisome underdevelopment of Zamfara State couples with hightened insecurity since the exit of the former Governor Bello Matawalle.
“We observed that since the nullification by appeal court of results from the three local governments that produced Governor of Zamfara State, the state have been going through challenges”.
In a statement signed by its National President, Comrade Eric Oluwole, the Council, which is an umbrella body of the Yoruba youths noted particularly that the state has been going through challenges since the Court of Appeal on November 27 ordered a rerun by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, of the March 18 election which produced the incumbent Governor Dauda Lawal of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner.
The statement said that based on its overview, “the Council observed that the current state of underdevelopment in the state is due to alleged fear and uncertainty being entertained by the governor on whether he would win or lose the three Local Government Areas in the incoming rerun.”
Oluwole said: “We called on the Mr President to put Governor Dauda Lawal under watch and checking, there is need for the Governor to concentrate his full energy on delivering meaningful governance to the good people of Zamfara State who are looking up to their leaders full hope, while patiently awaiting the final decision of the Supreme Court on his pending appeal against the nullification of his election by the lower Court and the Appeal Court.
We also observe then that his part of the people that showed much interest in Mr President on Toronto certificate issue.
Yoruba youths also said they learnt that Mr Governor has been financing some groups in other to carry out protest and therefore called on security agencies to be on alert to arrest any person that want to cause problem in the state.
“Already, the current state of underdevelopment in Zamfara State is disturbing enough, Mr Governor should not do anything to further jeopardize the interest and especially the much-needed overall socioeconomic development of the state.”
The youth leader then urged Governor Lawal to, pending the verdict of the Supreme Court on his appeal, he should vigorously follow the footsteps of his predecessor and now Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle “with his brilliant record of achievements as the immediate former Governor of Zamfara State.”
It would be recalled that in a unanimous decision by its three-member panel led by Justice Oyebisi Folayemi, including Justice Cordelia Ifeoma Jombo-Ofo, and Justice Sybil Nwaka Gbagi, the appellate court had declared the March 18 Zamfara State Governorship Election as inconclusive and nullified Lawal’s return.
It further ordered INEC to conduct a fresh election in three Local Government Areas of the state including Maradun, Birnin-Magaji and Bukkuyum, where elections had not been held previously or where results from various polling units were not counted.
Also, the court held that it was wrong for INEC to rely on information it obtained from its INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal to collate the final result of the governorship election.
The judgment was on an appeal brought before the court by the immediate former governor of the state, Bello Matawalle, who was the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the March 18 election
Oluwole noted that the Independent National Electoral Commission did not include about 98,000 votes meant for Bello Matawalle in its tally, called on the Supreme Court to simply add it up and decide in Matawalle’s favor without the need for a rerun and declare him winner.
“We advise Mr Governor to wait for the Supreme Court ruling, the state should not geopardize it’s efforts, so far, Nigeria belong to all of us, there is need for everyone to obey the Court ruling. The state needs to be stable for development and security.