Gov. Dauda Lawal Sets Matawalle’s Removal as Condition for Joining APC Amid PDP Collapse
The campaign to remove the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, has entered a critical phase driven not by security considerations but by a political ultimatum issued by Governor Dauda Lawal, according to confidential briefings and insider accounts reviewed by this reporter. Facing a deepening collapse of the PDP’s national structure and the defection of its key pillars, Lawal is now positioning himself for entry into the APC — but only on one condition: that Matawalle is first stripped of his ministerial platform, which guarantees him control over the APC machinery in Zamfara State.
Multiple sources inside the party confirm that the Governor has privately communicated to select figures in the APC leadership and influential voices in the Presidency that he will “only cross over if Matawalle goes.” A senior insider briefed on the conversations said the Governor is leveraging the PDP crisis as a negotiation asset and attempting to blackmail the APC into dismantling its most established political force in Zamfara before he defects. “His message is very clear: remove Matawalle or I stay where I am,” the official said. “He wants to walk into APC as the uncontested leader in Zamfara.”
Internal documents reviewed by this newspaper suggest the blackmail is wrapped in a strategic narrative designed to look like a national security concern. To secure legitimacy, the Governor’s team has allegedly developed a public messaging template linking insecurity in Zamfara to Matawalle personally, and positioning the minister as a liability in the fight against banditry. But confidential communications between the Governor’s aides and political surrogates reveal the real motive: dismantle Matawalle’s influence before the Governor announces his defection. The security angle, insiders say, is “just the storyline.”
Contrary to public perception, Senator Kabiru Marafa’s role is that of a tactical front — providing political cover while the real negotiation happens in Abuja’s backchannels. Two members of the APC National Working Committee familiar with the plot describe Marafa’s involvement as “the public hand of a private negotiation.” According to them, Lawal is pushing for Matawalle’s removal as a pre-condition to his entrance into the party, and Marafa is tasked with building the public pressure narrative that makes the demand appear organic and nationalistic rather than transactional.
Sources close to President Tinubu say the Villa is fully aware of the coercive tactic being deployed, and early intelligence briefings have already flagged Lawal’s blackmail attempt. A senior adviser with knowledge of the President’s internal discussions said Tinubu is not inclined to entertain political ultimatums dressed as security concerns. “This move has nothing to do with banditry,” the Villa source said. “It is purely about structure and 2027 calculations. The Governor wants to defect as a king, not as a member.”
With the PDP imploding at the national level, insiders predict that Lawal’s pressure campaign will intensify in the coming months. For now, the public narrative remains insecurity, but the truth beneath is a political demand: dismantle Matawalle, hand over APC’s structure in Zamfara, and only then will the Governor declare for the ruling party. It is a quiet war of conditions, ultimatums, and the battle for 2027 power blocs.