Tinubu plans gold refinery for Zamfara, says Matawalle
The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has promised to establish a gold refinery in Zamfara State towards addressing the state’s numerous challenges.
Governor Bello Matawalle made this known while speaking with newsmen in Gusau, the state capital yesterday, during which he also revealed that the state had discovered 199 ghost medical doctors on its payroll.
Matawalle, who is also the Northwest APC Campaign Coordinator, said that Tinubu had already produced a blueprint to address the state’s security challenges as well as the country at large.
“I personally asked the presidential candidate to what extent he will overcome the security issues in my state, and he said he will establish a gold refinery in the state.
“Establishing gold refinery will address banditry, kidnapping and other crimes bedeviling the state and the region as well, in addition to jobs’ opportunities and wealth creation among the population.
“The investors will equally support the security architecture of the state for smooth running of their businesses,” he said.
Matawalle said that Tinubu’s blueprint was rich enough to tackle Nigeria’s security challenges.
“We are optimistic that Tinubu’s leadership will provide a roadmap for eradicating socio-economic and political problems in the country, and only him has the answer for a better Nigeria,” he said.
Governor Matawalle also revealed that a total of 199 ghost medical doctors were discovered in the payroll of the state government.
Matawalle disclosed this in a chat with journalists in Maradun town, Maradun Local Government Area of the State.
The governor said the ghost workers were discovered during the recent workers’ verification exercise for the implementation of the N30,0000 new national minimum wage.
“We discovered that in a payroll, we have 280 medical doctors receiving salary monthly, but only 81 were genuine doctors while all the remaining 199 were ghost workers.
“This was among the major challenges that affected the full implementation of the N30,000 minimum wage for the workers in the state which commenced in November 2022 under my administration.
“We are working with the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and other stakeholders to address the problem,” Matawalle said.
He said that his administration was ready to ensure the smooth payment of workers’ salaries as well as general improvement of workers’ welfare in the state.
“As I am speaking to you, I built 450 houses for the civil servants in the state, and I will hand over the houses to the workers very soon.
On the challenges faced by some civil servants in the state, Matawalle maintained that the state government was not owing civil servants’ salaries.
“I have paid all salaries of government workers in the state for the months of November and December 2022,” Matawalle insisted.
According to him, the challenges that resulted from the payment of the salary were a result of some errors from the various discoveries of the verification exercise.
“As I have met with the labour leaders and other stakeholders, very soon, all the challenges would be addressed,” he added.
The Nation