Governor Muhammad Bello Matawalle of Zamfara state has said the former governor of the state has freedom of movement to come to the state as a free citizen but he has to respect the laws of the land.
‘He has to know that political gathering has now been throughout the state, Matawalle declared.
Speaking through his Director General, Press Affairs, Yusuf Idris Gusau on Sunday, the governor noted that: “We recognise the fact that former governor Yari has the freedom of movement, especially in Zamfara his home state.
To this end, “Matawalle never said he should not come to Zamfara, but one thing for sure is, he has to respect the law of the land particularly as it relates to the political gathering which has been banned now, if he tries that again, he will face the consequences.”
The feud between the governor and the former governor, Yari deepens when both the two leaders are accusing each other on the spate of killings which have engulfed the state in recent times.
While Matawalle has alleged Yari was behind the spate of killings in the state, the former governor has also alleged that the governor knows who were carrying out the attacks.
The governor remarked further that: “No doubt that this state is dear to us because even if we do not reside here, as Nigerians, we will definitely share the concerns of the security threats that bedevilled this state for almost a decade.
“That’s why we all joined hands in prayers and denied ourselves some enjoyment of life to make sacrifices to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’alah and supplications for Allah’s interventions to save us from those difficulties that are now to a large extent, history.
“These collective prayers of ours were answered and from where the human minds and thoughts never expected, Allah brought us to where were are today as leaders.
“As good believers, we accepted the choice of Allah and as loyal citizens, we have remained to give a direction which we enjoyed tremendous support.
“This is what some of us do not want to hear or identify with, simply because they have stubbornly refused to accept Allah’s choice, it is duty-bound on us all not to fall prey to these mischievous elements as they try to hoodwink us.
“I specifically called you here today to tell you what you already know, which is the fact that there are some few politicians in the opposition APC who are head bent on bringing down this God-given administration for the sake of their personal gains and aggrandisement by overblowing negative incidents such as the last attack that took place in Gummi local government area which Allah has helped us to tackle in the first 100 days.”
Reacting on the claim made by the former governor that he was his boss in politics, Matawalle dispelled such claim insisting he was in politics before Yarima and Yari having contested for the House of Representatives (Bakura /Maradun) and won as far back as 1992.
“I wish to assure the people of the state that the Matawalle-led government will continue to remain focused in meeting the yearnings and aspirations of our people as the whole world is well informed that the security situation has significantly improved in the state and we no longer have one single IDP camp because all displaced persons have returned home and are living without any threat,” he declared.