By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle has come under heavy criticism for allegedly ordering the arrest of a former Minister of State for Information and the Director-General of the Governorship Campaign Council of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Iqra Aliyu Bilbis.
The opposition party accuses the governor of being jittery over fear of defeat at the polls in 2023 in which he is seeking re-election on the platform of All Progressives Congress APC.
Bilbis was arrested alongside about nine other PDP members early on Tuesday, on the order of governor Matawalle, Sahara Reporters had reported.
“Senator Iqra Aliyu Bilbis has been arrested and detained by the police on the directive of the governor. About 10 of them were arrested and up till now, we don’t know the police station where they were taken to,” a PDP source said.
The arrest according to sources is not unconnected with alleged vandalisation of campaign billboards belonging to the ruling All Progressives Congress, an allegation PDP has denied, but rather insists that it is a political witch hunting, alleging that Matawalle is afraid that he will lose the next election to the opposition party.
“The arrest is also a victory for us; when the incumbent starts arresting members of the opposition party, it shows that they are afraid. Matawalle knows that he will lose the governorship so he is afraid,” another PDP member said.
In October, the PDP accused the governor of using all state apparatus including the police and Department of State Services to intimidate and suppress dissenting voices in the state.
The state chapter of the PDP petitioned the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, over what it described as unlawful harassment of members of opposition parties by security agents on the orders of Governor Matawalle.
The petition read in part, “Sir, it is with a heart full of trepidation and responsibility that the Zamfara State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) brings to your notice a potentially explosive situation in Zamfara State.
“It is obvious that the Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle, is all out to crush opposition and dissenting views and anyone that he sees as a threat in the quest for the realisation of his second term ambition. Well-meaning patriots who are non-political actors have neither been spared and are among the most affected victims of Matawalle’s war without reason.
“It was public knowledge that the Zamfara State Chapter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) planned to receive hundreds of thousands of decampees from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to our party on Saturday, October 15, 2022. It is also an established fact that the same was communicated to relevant security agencies in Zamfara State for necessary action.”
