NGScorecard

Promised to tackle Zamfara's banditry crisis through a 'cows-for-guns' amnesty and dialogue programme rather than purely military means.

The amnesty freed hundreds of hostages and saw repentant fighters publicly surrender arms, with the administration claiming 90% of bandits were ready to disarm in 2019; the programme ultimately collapsed as many participants returned to banditry, and Matawalle later withdrew the amnesty, blaming political sabotage.

Promised to disrupt the illegal mining revenue that helped fund banditry, alongside community-level security.

The administration banned illegal mining as a bandit revenue source and paid stipends to vigilante groups, but banditry and kidnapping remained a severe, ongoing crisis in the state through the end of the tenure.

Campaigned on transparent, accountable use of Zamfara's treasury.

The EFCC opened a probe into an alleged ₦70 billion in phantom contracts and fund diversion involving over 100 companies with no evidence of services rendered, and a post-tenure state transition committee report put total misapplied or misappropriated funds at over ₦250 billion across the 2019-2023 term.

Promised responsible management of state finances through the tenure.

Successor Governor Dauda Lawal said he inherited a near-empty treasury of only ₦4 million in May 2023, alongside four and a half months of unpaid salaries and debts including ₦1.6 billion to the judiciary, ₦1.6 billion to WAEC and ₦1.4 billion to NECO.