Zamfara State governor, Bello Mohammed (Matawallen Maradun), has said that the extent of bad blood in the present People’s Democratic Party is partly responsible for Governor David Umahi’s decision to dump the party for its rival APC.
The governor said he would rather commend Umahi for his bold decision rather than condemn him because everyone feels welcome only in a house where he feels comfortable. The governor’s comment has however fueled speculations that he may be on his way to the APC just like his Ebonyi State counterpart recently did.
He said: “If this trend of generating bad blood amongst us continues unabated, our great party will increasingly be on the receiving end as we move towards the year 2023. I am having a very bad experience of recent from some of my PDP governor colleagues, which I still find very puzzling. For instance, the South-South governors accusing me in the media are PDP governors and they are the same people who brewed controversy over the so-called Zamfara gold, premised on deliberate misinformation and outright lies.
“Surprisingly, it is the APC Federal government which has all the correct records on the gold mining issue that came out to defend me in this saga. As PDP colleagues, I expected the governors to contact me first and find out my own side of the story before unleashing their venom in the media.
“As the brouhaha lasted, I commend President Muhammadu Buhari for being supportive of our efforts to organise the economic sector in the state to avoid using the mineral deposits to promote insecurity in our dear state
“Today, the Federal government is issuing licences to deserving companies to operate in the mining sector in the state. A Nigerian from Anambra State owns the biggest company with an investment of billions of naira. And I wonder where the idea of Zamfara State owning the gold mines emanated from. As at now, the state government does not have a hand in any of the mining activities in the state because the constitution does not empower us to do so.
“I call on the South-South governors to eschew intellectual idleness and support its people to operate modular refineries as provided by the law and lift their people out of fear rather than sit behind and start chasing shadows rather than substance,” he stated.