I didn’t appoint Bashir Hadejia as adviser on mining, says Dauda Lawal

Dauda Lawal, governor of Zamfara, says he did not appoint Bashir Hadejia, a politician and businessman who was reportedly arrested for alleged terrorism.

Speaking in an interview on Channels Television on Wednesday, Lawal said the purported appointment letter was not issued by the Zamfara state government.

BACKGROUND

Hadejia was reportedly arrested by the force intelligence department-intelligence response team (FID-IRT) over alleged “treason and subversion against the state”.

He was an assistant on special assignments to Bello Matawalle, ex-governor of Zamfara.

Hadejia appeared in a slew of photographs with Matawalle — when the latter was Zamfara governor.

On August 24, 2020, Matawalle, alongside Hadejia, visited Muhammadu Buhari at the state house in Abuja and presented gold bars mined in Zamfara to the then president.

Shortly after Hadejia’s alleged arrest, a video appeared on social media showing the former Matawalle aide displaying what appears to be gold bars, with boxes bearing the inscription: ‘Central Bank of Libya’.

A letter indicating that Hadejia was purportedly appointed as technical adviser on mining to Lawal also circulated on social media.

Pictures showing Hadejia with President Bola Tinubu; Femi Gbajabiamila, chief of staff to the president; Nuhu Ribadu, national security adviser; and other political bigwigs, have elicited mixed reactions on social media.

Security agencies have been coy on Hadejia’s alleged arrest since the rumours began swirling a fortnight ago.

‘SOMETHING IS FISHY’

Speaking during the interview, the Zamfara governor said the appointment letter was a forgery.

Lawal said his administration usually issues statements whenever appointments are made, adding that the purported appointment of Hadejia cannot be seen anywhere.

“I did not employ Hadejia as a special adviser. If you look at the letterhead itself and the date, you will know something is fishy somewhere,” the governor said.

“We issued a statement that we had nothing to do with that. That was a forged letter. All my advisers, when I appoint them, I usually tell the media that I have appointed XYZ in these positions.

“I challenge anybody to show me where we made that kind of statement. We are very transparent with anything we do.

“There was never anywhere we mentioned that we appointed Hadejia as adviser but check any other adviser we appointed in Zamfara. There is always news out there in the media.”

The governor added that the “forged” letter was widely circulated for political reasons.