Northern governor opens up on ‘appointment’ of suspected terrorist Bashir Hadeja

Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, has denied appointing suspected terrorist and gun runner, Bashir Hadejia, as a Special Adviser.

Hadejia, a Kaduna state indigene, was arrested on Monday last week over alleged treason and subversion.

The suspect was a Special Adviser to the current Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle when he was the Governor of Zamfara State.

After his arrest, a letter dated October 27, 2023, purportedly signed by the Secretary to the Zamfara State Government, Mal Abubakar M. Nakwada, surfaced on the internet.

The letter alleged that the state government offered an appointment to the suspected gun runner.

But speaking during an interview on ChannelsTV on Wednesday evening, the governor said the purported appointment letter was fake.

“Let me make a categorical statement here. I did not appoint Hadejia as a Special Adviser,” the governor said.

“If you look at the letter heading itself with the date, something is fishy somewhere. We issued statement that we had nothing to do with that, that was a forged letter.

“Whenever I appoint advisers, I usually tell the media that I have appointed X, Y, Z in different positions. I challenge anybody to show me where we made that kind of statement.”

He reiterated his administration’s commitment to transparency and accountability, saying that there is nothing to hide.