₦415bn Received, yet Zamfara still struggles, youth group tackles Dauda

A youth group in Zamfara State has accused Governor Dauda Lawal of mismanaging over ₦415 billion received by his administration in the last two years.

In a statement released on Sunday, the Zamfara Youth Concerned Citizens expressed outrage over what they described as the governor’s failure to deliver basic development despite receiving massive allocations from federal coffers, donor agencies and internal revenue sources.

Speaking on behalf of the group, spokesperson Kabiru Muhammad Gusau said there was little or nothing on ground to justify the colossal funds that have passed through the government under Lawal’s leadership.

“Our roads are still death traps, our schools are falling apart, hospitals have no equipment, and children are still out of school,” he said.

Gusau questioned how such large sums could be spent with no visible progress to match the funding. He listed the sources of income as including ₦179 billion from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), ₦40 billion from internally generated revenue, and several billions from educational and disaster relief programmes.

He said ₦7.11 billion was received from UBEC for basic school rehabilitation, ₦6.31 billion from BESDA to return children to classrooms, and ₦4 billion earmarked for flood victims — yet according to him, no kobo has reached those in need.

“In total, more than ₦180 billion has been received, yet Zamfara still lags behind every other state in Nigeria,” he said. “What exactly has Dauda Lawal done with all this money?”

The group claimed that no previous administration in the state’s history had access to such funds, yet those governments achieved far more.

They accused the governor of betraying the trust of the people, citing decaying infrastructure, unpaid teachers, under-equipped hospitals, and overtaxed but unsupported traders.

“This is not just failure. This is betrayal,” the statement added.

“Dauda Lawal came with promises of rescue. But now, it is Zamfara that needs to be rescued from his government.”

According to the group, a breakdown of the total receipts between May 2023 and April 2025 showed ₦415.3 billion accrued to the state from various sources, including ₦186 billion in FAAC to the state, ₦130 billion in FAAC to local governments, ₦40 billion in IGR, ₦30 billion in infrastructure support, and ₦49 billion under the NG-CARES programme.

“Zamfara is not poor — we are just poorly governed,” the group concluded. “We cannot afford another four years of waste and excuses. Zamfara deserves better. Zamfara must rise again.”