PROFILE: Only God Can Give Leadership To Anyone” Meet Matawalle, Governor-Elect Of Zamfara

At the time the governorship result of Zamfara state was announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission, Abdullaziz Yari, outgoing governor of the state’s preferred candidate Muktar Idris, commissioner of finance and the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, had defeated Matawalle by a wide margin of 345,089.

However, after casting his vote in during the election in March, Bello Matawalle, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)  had made this statement “I believe, as a Muslim, that only God Almighty can give leadership to anyone He will and seize the leadership from anyone He will. Therefore I will accept what God Almighty destined to me in good faith pertaining to this election without any objections,”

After the results were finally collated , INEC announced that Idris had polled 534,541 while Matawalle had 189,452.

However, five days to the installation of a new governor in  Zamfara, the supreme court has nullified the results of the governorship election, while declaring that Matawalle who had the second highest votes be sworn in as governor of the state

This has made Matawalle the incoming governor of the state.

The court gave judgment following the appeal of Idris. The governor-elect had appealed the verdict of the appeal court that nullified the primary election of APC in Zamfara.

His Political Journey

Matawalle came into politics for the first time in 1998 when he ran for a house of assembly seat and won. At the time, he was a member of United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP). However, the death of Sani Abacha, military dictator led to his successor, Abdulsalami Abubakar dissolving the political parties and announcing that elections would hold in 1999.

Matawalle then served as commissioner for local government and chieftaincy affairs, environment, rural development and later youth and sport in Zamfara, between the year 1999 and 2003.

He further in 2003 contested for the seat of the house of representatives and won under the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) platform. He represented Bakura/Maradun federal constituency in the house of representatives till 2007.

He was re-elected in 2007 and served till 2011.

His Early Life

Matawalle was born on December 12, 1969 at Maradun, the headquarters of Mradun local government area of Zamfara. He had his early education in Maradun township primary school.

He had his degrees from Yaba College of Technology, Lagos and Thames Valley University, London.

He is married to four wives and blessed with children.