A civil society organisation has given the Zamfara State Government 14 days to publicly account for the state’s Gold Reserve Initiative or face a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) over some financial transactions during the immediate past governor, Dr. Bello Matawalle, who is now the Minister of State for Defence.
According to the Patriots for the Advancement of Peace and Social Development, the petition would also be sent to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
In a statement on behalf of the group on Thursday, a former National Secretary of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Alhaji Sani Shinkafi, who is also a senatorial aspirant for Zamfara North district, the group said that it is ‘curious’ that three years after Matawalle left office, nothing had been heard of the initiative despite its public launch in 2020.
They questioned the fate of the gold purchased by the state between 2020 and 2023, and the legality of the trade given the federal ban on mining in the state during that period.
Central to the group’s concern is the 31 kilogrammes of gold and precious stones Matawalle presented to then President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa on 24 October 2020.
Matawalle said then that the minerals were procured by the state to boost its financial base and were mined and refined by local miners in the state.
He also stated that his government had engaged the miners to block supply chains and prevent the minerals from falling into the wrong hands amid insecurity in the state.
The group put the current market value of the 31kg presented to Buhari at ₦5.95 billion. They demanded to know the total quantity of gold purchased by the state government from 2020 to 2023, and how many kilogrammes were handed over to Matawalle’s successor, Governor Dauda Lawal, on 29 May 2023.
They also asked whether that handover was reflected in the transition committee report, and for the monetary value of the gold handed over.
Further, the group requested the disclosure of the commercial bank where the gold reserve was domiciled, and the identities of the local miners from whom the state purchased the gold.
A key point of contention raised by the Patriots is the timing of the transactions against the federal ban on mining. The Federal Government suspended all exploration and mining activities in the state in April 2019 due to insecurity, and the ban was only lifted in 2025.
‘In view of the Federal Government’s suspension of solid minerals mining from 2019 to 2025, who approved then Governor Bello Matawalle’s government’s engagement in gold trade’? the group queried.
The Patriots referenced a 2019 statement by the Office of the National Security Adviser that illegal mining fueled over a decade of armed banditry in the state, arguing that this makes the state’s gold trade during the ban period a matter of public interest.
To establish the legality of the transactions, the group asked for the certificate of origin, certificate of ownership, karat and purity of the gold, and the name of the Corporate Affairs Commission-registered company used by the state to make purchases.
They also demanded the names and addresses of the state mineral buying centres licensed by the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, and the companies that issued compliance consent for artisanal miners to supply gold legally to the state.
The initiative was controversial at the time of its launch. South-South governors, including Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State and Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, criticised it, arguing that states should not manage natural resources, citing the constitutional exclusive list.
The then Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Mr. Olamilekan Adegbite, also stated that all natural resources belong to the Federal Government, with revenues paid into the Federation Account and states receiving derivation funds.
The Patriots said that the state government must publish the handover note and transition committee report referencing gold purchases from 2020 to 2023 in national newspapers within 14 days. Failure to do so, they said, would compel them to petition the EFCC, ICPC, NFIU, and ONSA for investigation.
Shinkafi said that citizens must hold public office holders accountable, adding that ‘accountability is a democratic necessity as public officers are Trustees of our common patrimony’.
