A coalition of Civil Society Organisation, CSO, suspicious of Zamfara State Governor, Mr. Dauda Lawal’s source of wealth has called for an immediate probe to know how he acquired the houses he declared in his declaration form that he has in France, USA, and United Kingdom.
Addressing a press conference in Lagos, the convener of the group Comrade Femi Lawson, who briefed journalists in company of members of the executives of the group stated that the group is not against people gathering wealth before seeking public office, but the source of their wealth should be transparent.
The CSO added that it is also in the interest of Mr. Lawal to also tell the public how he made his money.
Lawson challenged that it is incumbent on Mr. Lawal to lead by example by telling the world how he made his money and details of his asset declaration, before the Code of Conduct Bureau.
The CSO explained that it took the step it has taken because Nigeria is now in a precarious situation more than ever.
“The debt issues and economic crises we are in now require that we do our best. We want to appreciate our media friends in this campaign for doing a yeoman job.
“We want you to do more, because we owe it as a collective duty to the incoming generation that in view of the economic crisis that our leaders had plunged us in due to their indiscretion, it will not be business as usual anymore.
“We have had bogus asset declarations by some of our governors, ostensibly to cover for the Graft that will follow their activities as the state helmsman”, the Organisation said.
The CSO stated that it zeroed in on Zamfara for obvious reasons: “Why Zamfara? This is because despite the availability of gold and other mineral resources, in large quantities, the people of Zamfara have not been able to benefit substantially from these God-given resources. The security issues and underdevelopment have put the state in a state of comatose. Why is it that terrorism has remained unabated in Zamfara?” it demanded.
The Organisation noted that when Mr. Lawal was sworn in, the news was everywhere that he’s worth $5bn and N1bn in nine banks.
“This emboldens the conviction in us that the news that he, Governor Dauda Lawal declared assets worth N9trn is true which he only denied when the uproar and public scrutiny was huge and resounding.
“The African richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, is worth $15bn with his assets, and Lawal is worth $5bn without any known companies or major breakthroughs in new inventions or technology. How did he make his money? From the information we gathered, Mr. Lawal had declared such a humongous amount to the code of conduct bureau as part of the enabling laws to take over as state governor”, it queried.
