COVID-19: Matawalle dissolves coronation organizing committee

Gov. Bello Matawalle of Zamfara has dissolved the committee he set up earlier to organize his coronation ceremony as the ‘Shatima’ of Sokoto.

It was reported that Sultan Saad Abubakar lll, had in October, conferred the title of Shatima of Sokoto on Matawalle, following his efforts at bringing peace, through dialogue, to the north west region of the country.

Arrangements were at top gear for the turbaning ceremony, scheduled to hold on Saturday, Dec. 19, at the Sultan’s palace in Sokoto, when the Zamfara government announced the dissolution of the organizing committee, chaired by a former Minister of Finance, Alhaji Bashir Yuguda.

Giving reasons for the dissolution of the committee in an interview with NAN in Gusau on Wednesday, Yusuf Idris, the Director-general, Media, to the governor, said the decision was part of effort to reduce the crowd at the ceremony, due to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“You know the governor has many well wishers, from far and near and many of them had indicated that they would grace the event, but as a concerned leader, my boss pleaded with them not to come, in order to prevent them from possibly contracting the corona virus as a result of the crowd.

“Similarly, the governor and indeed the people of the state are grieved by the recent abduction of over 300 secondary school students in Kankara in our neighbouring Katsina state, so we cannot be celebrating under these unfortunate circumstances,” Idris explained.

He, however, said since the turbaning would still take place on the stated date, people could pray for the governor from wherever they may be.