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From Okwe Obi, Abuja
Controversy has trailed the 31 kilograms of gold bars presented to former president, Muhammadu Buhari, by the then governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, as the Patriots for the Advancement of Peace and Social Development, has questioned the whereabouts of the assets.
In October 2020, Matawalle, now Minister of State for Defence, presented the precious stones to the late Buhari to boost the financial base of the state, and to sell the Gold Reserve Initiative to the federal government.
But the Executive Director of the organisation, Sani Shinkafi, in a statement yesterday, claimed that since Matawalle left office in 2023 nothing has been heard of the Initiative.
“It is curious that three years after Bello Matawalle left office as governor of Zamfara State nothing has been heard of his administration’s well publicised Gold Reserve Initiative which he proudly presented to then President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa Abuja on 24th October 2020 with 31 kilograms of gold and precious stones he said Zamfara government procured to boost the financial base of the state.
“He told Buhari that the state had received offers from prospective buyers to supply them gold bars stating that the gold was mined and refined by local miners and concerned that few persons mined gozzzld in Zamfara State and sell it abroad, that his government engaged the miners to block the chain of supply and avoid it entering into wrong hands due to security issue in the state.”
Shinkafi claimed that the current value of the 31 kilograms of gold Matawalle presented to Buhari is estimated at N5,952,000,000.
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Consequently, he sought clarifications on how many kilograms of gold was purchased through the Zamfara State Gold Reserve Initiative from 2020 to 2023. He also sought answers on how many kilograms of gold was handed over to his successor, Governor Dauda Lawal, wanting to also know if it was contained in the handover note and the transition committee report.
In addition, he sought answers to the monetary value of gold Matawalle handed over to Governor Dauda Lawal as assets in the transition committee report and the commercial bank the government placed the Zamfara State Gold Reserve Initiative in?
He questioned the whereabouts of the certificate of origin of the refined gold Matawalle presented to Buhari from local miners he claimed he purchased them from to ensure it was not smuggled into the country or illegally mined?
He called on the current Zamfara State Government to publish the handover note and transition committee report where gold purchased by Matawalle’s administration were stated and where the Zamfara State Gold Reserve Initiative is kept.
“Take notice that failure to publish the said documents within 14 days, we will be left with no option than to report same to the EFCC, ICPC, NFIU and NSA to thoroughly investigate the legality or otherwise of the Bello Matawalle government’s engagement in solid minerals at the time the Federal Government had suspended mining activities in Zamfara State to combat armed banditry there.
“Patriots for the Advancement of Peace and Social Development will continue to hold public office holders accountable to justify the confidence the people reposed in them as provided for in Sections 14(2)a, 22, 188 and 308 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended,” he added.
