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From Ola Muhammad, Birnin Kebbi
The Kebbi State Government has berated the ADC governorship candidate Abubakar Malami over his recent use of a UNDP poverty report.
The government accused the former Attorney-General of weaponising the report to discredit the APC-led administration and score cheap political points ahead of 2027 general elections.
The Commissioner for Information and Culture, Hon. Yakubu Ahmed, stated this in Birnin Kebbi while reacting to Malami’s press briefings on poverty, insecurity and water scarcity.
According to him, Malami has been parading the UNDP report classifying Kebbi as one of Nigeria’s poorest states as proof that APC has failed.
Ahmed said it was shocking that a Kebbi indigene would celebrate his people’s hardship just to advance his failing political career.
He noted that Malami was one of the most powerful ministers under the late President Muhammadu Buhari when poverty and insecurity worsened nationwide.
The commissioner revealed that the UNDP index Malami display covers 2018 to early Buhari era, a period Malami was actively in power.
He argued that the poverty Malami now laments was planted and nurtured under the same government where he wielded enormous influence and power.
Ahmed alleged Malami was among the most notorious figures in that administration, linked to allegations of multi-billion-naira corruption and property acquisitions.
He said Malami’s alleged reckless appetite for ill-gotten wealth helped trigger the economic crisis now reflected in the UNDP statistics he celebrates.
The government described Malami as a willing carrier of bad news, always eager to profit from tragedy and misfortune for political relevance.
It recalled how in June 2025 Malami claimed 200 people were killed in Tadurga Ward, Zuru Emirate, a claim widely reported.
According to Ahmed, local security forces, local government officials and the Zuru Emirate Council later debunked the figure, putting casualties at under 30.
He said Malami was condemned nationwide for allegedly lying and dancing on victims’ graves just to gain political sympathy and attention.
The commissioner said insecurity was one area Malami failed woefully, noting Kebbi became unsafe while he was Nigeria’s chief law officer.
He stressed that Malami stood by while Kebbi burnt, never visiting, condoling or assisting any community attacked by bandits during his tenure.
Ahmed said: “His sudden concern for victims now is fake, driven purely by desperation to govern people he once ignored.”
In contrast, he said Gov. Nasir Idris had done everything humanly possible to confront banditry and secure lives and property statewide.
He disclosed that Idris had procured hundreds of Hilux vans and thousands of motorcycles for soldiers, police, DSS, civil defence, hunters and vigilantes.
The commissioner added that the governor had improved welfare for all security operatives and consistently visits attacked communities with relief and assurances.
According to him, s also secured approval for Forward Operating Bases and new formations including 28 Armoured Brigade in Birnin Kebbi.
Other new military assets, he said, include 281 Tank Battalion in Yauri and 381 Artillery Regiment in Kaoje, plus ongoing armoured platform purchases.
Ahmed-BK linked Malami’s alleged corruption directly to poverty, saying confiscated multi-billion-naira assets show how public funds were diverted and wasted.
He cited one of 48 houses reportedly ordered for confiscation in Birnin Kebbi, built for Malami’s child, as enough to fund over 1,000 boreholes.
Yet, he said, the same Malami now laments lack of potable water that his alleged looting helped to create.
The commissioner argued that a man who entered government with almost nothing but left stupendously rich could not credibly accuse others of failure.
He alleged Malami and his associates betrayed the late former President, looted the treasury, and now seek elective office to secure immunity.
Ahmed said Gov. Idris inherited severe economic dislocation worsened by Malami’s era, but had launched unprecedented infrastructure, agriculture, education and health interventions.
He listed massive road projects like Koko-Zuru Road, free fertilisers, solar pumps, food distribution, teacher recruitment, scholarships and billion-naira cash transfers as evidence of progress.
The commissioner concluded that Kebbi cannot discard a tree already bearing fruit, urging people to tell looters to go and eat their loot while Kauran Gwandu continues rebuilding prosperity.
