Court Orders Matawalle to Return Over 50 Official Vehicles to Zamfara Government

A Federal High Court, sitting in Sokoto, has ordered the Defense Minister, Bello Matawalle to return all the official vehicles of the Zamfara State Government in his possession.

The official vehicles, numbering over 50, were taken away by Matawalle, while leaving office last May, as the Governor of Zamfara state.

Last June, a task force constituted by the new governor, had raided the residences of the former governor, across the state, and carted away over 50 vehicles, mostly jeeps, some of them bulletproof, claiming they were official vehicles.

But Matawalle headed to the Federal High Court, Gusau, and obtained an order compelling the state government to return all the seized vehicles to him.

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Matwalle also filed another application seeking to enforce his fundamental rights to own properties, including the returned vehicles.

The new governor applied for the transfer of the application to the Federal High Court, Sokoto, which dismissed Matawalle’s application and ordered him to return all the official vehicles to the state government.

In a statement issued on Monday by Governor Dauda Lawal’s spokesperson, Sulaiman Bala Idris, said the Federal High Court of Nigeria, Sokoto Judicial Division, dismissed the matter on Friday and ordered that the vehicles be returned to the government.

The court refused the relief sought by Bello Matawalle and rejected his claim to own 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 will leave no stone unturned.

The judgment 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.