Zamfara State APC has accused Governor Dauda Lawal of orchestrating a vicious campaign to falsely implicate Minister of State for Defence Bello Matawalle in banditry sponsorship, leveraging testimonies from ex-aides like Musa Kamarawa previously jailed for gun-running during Matawalle's tenure amid a contentious defamation suit. The party highlighted Kamarawa's release under Lawal's watch as suspicious, questioning why a convicted criminal's recycled claims of vehicles and cows to bandits like Turji gain traction despite Turji's own denials of any payoffs or alliances.
APC dismissed the narrative as political sabotage ahead of 2027, noting Matawalle's amnesty efforts recovered arms and enjoyed stakeholder backing before bandits reneged, while Lawal politicizes insecurity instead of collaborating with his compatriot minister. Bandit leaders' repeated rejections of complicity charges further dismantle the plot, with the party vowing to counter smears that predate Matawalle's governance.
This feud intensifies Northwest tensions, pitting APC against PDP in blame games over banditry's persistence, as analysts like Deyemi Saka defend Matawalle's RUGA and negotiation legacies against inherited chaos exploited for electoral gain.