In what would be regarded as the biggest upset of the 2023 General Elections, banker Lawal Dare ousted Zamfara State Governor Bello Matawalle.
Dare of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) received 377,726 votes, defeating Matwalle of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who received 311,976 votes, according to Prof. Kassimu Shehu, the election’s returning officer.
Below are five facts about Lawal Dare:
BORN IN GUSAU
Born in Gusau, the capital of Zamfara State, on September 2nd, 1965. Lawal earned a B.Sc. in political science from Ahmadu Bello University in 1987. He earned his PhD in business administration from Usmanu Danfodiyo University in Sokoto in 1992 and an M.Sc. in political science/international relations from the same institution. He also attended courses at esteemed institutions like the London School of Economics, Harvard Business School, Oxford University Business School, Lagos Business School, and others to further his education.
STARTED EDUCATION IN MOTHER’S VILLAGE
Lawal received his primary school in Katsina State, where his mother is from the hamlet of Guga. Lawal restored schools, erected a computer lab, and established a primary healthcare facility for the community. He uses a motorized borehole powered by solar to offer portable water for the entire town.
CAREER
He began his professional career in 1989 with the Agency for Popular Mobilisation for Social and Economic Development Nigeria as a political education officer. He worked as an assistant general manager for Westex Nigeria Ltd starting in 1989. He was hired in 1994 as an assistant consular officer (immigration), and then promoted to chief protocol officer, in the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, D.C. Dauda Lawal joined First Bank of Nigeria Plc in May 2003 as a relationship manager for commercial banking. She later served as senior manager for the Abuja Area office, business development manager for Abuja, principal manager for group head PSG II, assistant general manager (business development manager) for Maitama, and deputy general manager (business development manager) for Maitama. At First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Dauda Lawal is now the group head for the public sector. Lawal is a fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Credit Administration, a fellow of the Ghanaian Civilian Institute of Democratic Administration, a member of the African Business Roundtable, and a fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Directors.
BUSINESS CHAIN
Lawal built Zam blocks, the state’s major block industry, in an effort to boost the economy and lower the high unemployment rate in Zamfara State. He founded the Azuma water, Zam agrochemical, and Zam rice mills (the biggest fertilizer blending company in Northern Nigeria).
DEFEATED EFCC AT SUPREME COURT
Lawal overcame many obstacles in the run-up to the 2023 General Elections, most notably legal action regarding his nomination as a candidate for governor. His primary elections were declared invalid by the supreme court, and a new one was held in their place. But, that was not his first encounter with the EFCC. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was required to release the N9 billion it had taken from Dauda Lawal in 2021 by the supreme court.
The five-person panel, presided over by Justice Muhammad Lawal Garba, denied the EFCC’s appeal of the Court of Appeal’s decision in a unanimous decision.
