Governor Matawalle allays worry about gold deposits, describes sale of gold to CBN as mere speculation, reveals foreigners involved in mining in Zamfara
Zamfara State Governor,Bello Muhammad Matawalle says reports of sale of gold bar by the state to the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) was not only mere conjectures peddled by enemies of the state but a figment of imagination contrived by the opposition to cause division in the state and the country.
Matawalle who disclosed this to current matters in an interview on Thursday in Abuja said until his assumption of office as governor, the gold mines which are vast were not given the publicity they deserved as the tradition of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC,then was to plunder the resources leading to all manner of vices such as abduction and killing of innocent people in the state.
The governor said he informed the federal government about the gold deposits and invited them to harness the potentials instead of the resources falling into wrong hands and said that his administration had put in place concrete measures to secure the enormous resources on behalf of the federal government.One of which he said was the engagement of security agents to mann the mineral sites at the cost of over N170 million per month.
‘We told the federal government what we have so that the government can put the machineries in place to come and harness the potentials the state has because before emerged as governor ,nobody had come up to inform the government what we have.But now we are open to government,we informed the government about what we have, unlike what the illegal mining that the previous administration in the state was doing just like bunkering in the South South,
“As I emerged as governor, with an open mind,I informed the federal government that we have this resources let government be ready to come and harness the resources that the state has so that the federal and state governments can benefit from it rather than other people from outside the country coming and going away with it “
Infact ,throughout the 8 years of the previous government in the state, they were involved in illegal mining, but when I emerged we chased the illegal miners and we put security agents there to secure the areas waiting for the federal government to give licences to individuals who would come and take over “
“All the mining sites are well secured. Infact ,all the stories trending in the media about Zamfara State are the orchestration of officials of the previous Zamfara State government because we stopped all their illegal mining activities.
“Both Chinese people and Burkina-Faso people were doing mining in the state.I had to engage the Taskforce to dismiss some of them.We arrested more than eleven Chinese citizens in the state. With all the current security challenges in the state,none of the Chinese people were arrested or killed.They were all in the bush.This people were using the locals .they collect gold, buy gold from them. and this is what I stopped from happening.’
“How long have you heard about mass killing in the state?, It is because we are open and sincere and this is what people don’t want”.
Asked how many gold sites abound in Zamfara State, the governor said so many.
He said “a Chinese personnel has licence of mining from Ministry of Solid Minerals to mine gold in Zamfara State., Some of them have Corporate affairs Certificates.There is someone who has about 8.3 billion deposits of gold in Zamfara He is not even a Hausa man. We are trying to make sure that we are secured and we secure our people.”
On why the Zamfara gold has become a controversy and subject of debate at the National Assembly, Matawalle said the whole thing is transparent as his government had nothing to hide.He however urged the Deputy Senate President and other members of the National Assembly to investigate the matter at the Ministry of solid minerals if they were dissatisfied ,adding that his government as opposition did its best not only by sincerely informing the federal government to harness the gold resources as a back up to the crude oil resources which has been the mainstay of the nation’s economy, but by making sure that the gold mines are safe and the people are also safe.
“As of now, I pay N170million to give to the security agents every month to safeguard the solid mineral sites and that ought to be the responsibility of the federal government but we are doing it. We have about 8000 security looking after the mines and the least we pay each of them per day is N2500.
” If I wanted the illegal business of mining to continue,I could have done so and it wouldn’t have caused me anything but because I wanted to protect the resources for the good of Nigerians which is why I have taken the steps I have to first of all inform the federal government and to protect the mines.”
The governor added that he asked for waivers on duty for the security vehicles being used by security agents overseeing the the mines but to no avail adding that what the state is waiting for was the programme and suggestions from the federal government to drive the process.
On Wednesday, the Deputy Senate President,Ovie Omo-Agege had faulted Zamfara state governor on the sale of the gold bar to the CBN describing it as a breach of the constitution.
While contributing to a debate on the general principles of the 2021 Appropriation Bill, Omo-Agege noted that it was wrong for the Federal Government to allow Zamfara state to sell gold bar to the CBN for N5BILLION against constitutional provisions.
According to him, the people of the Niger Delta were begining to wonder who owns the gold being sold to the CBN as they do not sell the oil in the Niger Delta states as he also was “wondering why a governor should sell the gold bar to the CBN’
