Federal High Court rejects former governor’s petition to retain over 50 government vehicles

The former governor of Zamfara state, Bello Matawalle, has been ordered by the federal High Court in Sokoto to return over 50 official vehicles belonging to the state government after his service in office.

Apart from the expropriated State’s official vehicles, Matawalle’s administration is alleged to have looted the state of Zamfara billions of Naira while he was in office.

According to a report, the governor and his past executive members had refused to return the vehicles since their  transference of power, on May 29, to the incumbent leadership of governor Dauda Lawal and his executives.

Bello Matawalle had filed a case in pursuit of his right to retain the vehicles after the vehicles were recovered following the raid of  his house by officers from the Zamfara State Police Command months later.

Baring his ability to achieve this, on Friday,  the Federal high Court in Sokoto refused to admit , Matawalle’s, the the former governor’s legal pursuance of rights to the ownership of the State’s government fleets of cars.

Sulaiman Bala Idris as the spokesperson of the incumbent of governor of Zamfara State, commending the effort of the Federal Court, has explained that the former governor looted much from the State including the vehicles which had left the “The present administration with nothing to use”.

In an interview, on Monday, the governor’s spokesman highlighted,“Recall that in June, the Zamfara State Government gave the former governor and his deputy five working days to return all official vehicles taken away. (2)

“All demands for the return of the said vehicles proved abortive, and as a result, the Zamfara State Government resorted to obtaining a court order to retrieve them. In pursuit of that order, a total number of over 50 vehicles were recovered by the police.

“After the vehicles were recovered, Bello Matawalle quickly went to the Federal High Court in Gusau. The court granted an order for the cars to be returned to him. Additionally, he filed a separate suit at the same court, seeking to enforce his fundamental right to own property, including the vehicles in question.

“The Zamfara State Government requested the transfer of the case to another jurisdiction of the Federal High Court.

“The Federal High Court of Nigeria, Sokoto Judicial Division, dismissed the matter on Friday. The court refused the reliefs sought by Bello Matawalle and rejected his claim to the ownership of the official vehicles. As a result, the vehicles are still considered the property of the Zamfara State Government.

“Our government is committed to recovering all that rightfully belongs to the people through an all-encompassing rescue mission that leaves no stone unturned,” he stressed. (3)

Speaking on the current government’s efforts to recover not just the vehicles but also many cash-stripped projects and  billions of Naira reportedly syphoned by the administration of the former governor, Matawalle, who is currently the State minister of Defense, Mr. Idris also said that “The judgement by the Federal High Court will encourage us to ensure that justice prevails and all perpetrators of financial banditry in Zamfara are brought to book.”