A civil society organisation has given the Zamfara State Government 14 days to publicly account for the state’s Gold Reserve Initiative or face a petition to the EFCC, ICPC, NFIU, and the Office of the National Security Adviser over transactions carried out during the tenure of former Governor Bello Matawalle, now Minister of State for Defence.
The demand was made by Patriots for the Advancement of Peace and Social Development in a press release issued in Abuja on 18th June 2026 and signed by Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi, former National Secretary of APGA and aspirant for the Zamfara North Senatorial Seat.
The group said it was “curious” that three years after Matawalle left office, nothing had been heard of the initiative despite its public launch in 2020. They questioned the fate of the gold purchased by the state between 2020 and 2023, and the legality of the trade given the federal ban on mining in Zamfara during that period.
Central to the group’s concern is the 31 kilograms of gold and precious stones Matawalle presented to then President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa on October 24, 2020. At the time, Matawalle said the minerals were procured by the state to boost its financial base and were mined and refined by local miners in Zamfara. He also stated that his government had engaged the miners to block supply chains and prevent the minerals from falling into the wrong hands amid insecurity in the state.
