Court Orders Matawalle to Return Official Vehicles in His Possession

A Federal High Court sitting in Sokoto has dismissed a suit filed by a former governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, over the ownership of vehicles he took away on leaving office in May 2023.

In June, the police went to houses belonging to Matawalle to take possession of the vehicles as ordered by the court.

A statement issued on Monday by Sulaiman Bala Idris, the spokesperson of the current governor of the Northern Nigerian state, Dauda Lawal, stated that the Federal High Court rejected Matawalle’s claims over the ownership of the vehicles.

According to the statement, the immediate past governor of Zamfara, who is the current minister of state for defence, along with members of his cabinet, had taken away all official vehicles belonging to the state government, leaving the administration of Governor Lawal with nothing to use.

The statement recalled that “in June, the Zamfara State government gave the former governor and his deputy five working days to return all official vehicles taken away. 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 rushed to the Federal High Court in Gusau.”

Gusau is the capital of Zamfara State.

The statement noted that the court in Gusau granted an order for the cars to be returned to Matawalle, who, thereafter proceeded to file a separate suit at the same court in the Zamfara State capital, “seeking to enforce his fundamental right to own property, including the vehicles in question.”

It was at this point that the administration of Governor Lawal, Matawalle’s successor, requested the transfer of the case to another jurisdiction of the Federal High Court. That jurisdiction was the Sokoto Judicial Division of the Federal High Court, which dismissed the matter on Friday after rejecting Matawalle’s claim to the ownership of the vehicles.

Sokoto State and Zamfara State are neighbouring states and share borders. Until 1996, Zamfara was part of Sokoto State.

“As a result, the vehicles are still considered the property of the Zamfara State government,” continued the statement. “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 statement added: “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.”