Zamfara State governor, Bello Matawalle had high hopes ahead of the March 18 gubernatorial election.
He was confident that he would be re-elected for a second term in the state.
However, to his surprise, the results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were the opposite of what he expected.
Mr Matawalle lost to the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dauda Lawal.
Mr Lawal polled 377,726 votes to defeat Mr Matawalle, who got 311,976 votes.
Why Matawalle Lost
According to the governor, the Federal Government militarised the gubernatorial and State Assembly elections in the state to punish him for challenging its new Naira policy in court.
Mr Matawalle and other governors from Kano and Kaduna, Abdullahi Ganduje and Nasir El Rufai filed a suit against the government over withdrawal of Naira notes.
The suit was challenging the federal government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at the Supreme Court over its new Naira policy.
The governor says he was warned that the election might not go his way for his actions.
He said over 300 truckloads of soldiers were sent to the state on the eve of the election.
‘We’ve Left Everything To God’
50 soldiers sent to strategic polling units to intimidate voters against voting for his party, Matawalle alleged.
You Should Read: Naira Redesign: How CBN Policy Affected Nigerians
“We’ve security challenges in Zamfara state and we’ve been asking them to send soldiers to us but they didn’t.
“But three days to the election (gubernatorial) they sent over 300 vehicles conveying soldiers into Zamfara.
“Such a high number of soldiers, if they could send them to us to fight insecurity it would be better. But they only sent them during elections.
“And I tell you, they were over 50 soldiers in our polling units in Zamfara.
“They (soldiers) were even straight about it that those voting for APC would not be allowed to vote.
“People were harassed and beaten because they wanted to vote for APC. We all have this evidence on video.
“When we called soldiers to come to our aid, they didn’t come. But I’ve left everything to God,” he said.
Mr Matawalle says his party would decide if he is to challenge the ‘irregularities’ of the election in court.
