Presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Adewole Adebayo, has accused Senator AbdulAziz Yari of financing terrorism to mask his gold-mining operations in Zamfara State.

He also accused Mr Yari of using proceeds from gold-mining to bankroll the All Progressives Congress and President Bola Tinubu’s re-election.

Speaking at the Nigerian Bar Association’s conference in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, on Tuesday, Mr Adebayo doubted Mr Tinubu’s intention to tackle terrorism, claiming he was surrounded by the likes of Mr Yari, an alleged terrorism sponsor whose largesse was funding the APC for the 2027 general elections.

Mr Tinubu appointed Mr Yari as the director-general of the APC campaign council. He accepted the position on Tuesday thanking the president for entrusting him with the responsibility.

“How can you say you want to fight terrorism when the terrorists are in the Villa and the terrorists are robbing the government and the terrorists are the ones in Zamfara using terrorism to mine gold and use the gold to fund campaign and become chairman of campaign and you are there you don’t want to recognise that,” the SDP candidate said.

There have been killings and kidnappings in Zamfara State where terrorists and bandits continue to thrive to the detriment of locals and farmers majority of whom had fled their farms.

Mr Adewole said that the killing of locals was a  ploy to sow panic and displace people from regions that have natural resources. “When locals are dislodged from their communities, it gives illegal miners unfettered access to steal natural resources, he said.

Asked how he would tackle terrorism, Mr Adewole said his first strategy would be to hold miners accountable for any killing and violence that occur in their designated cadastral zones.

“If you cover the mining cadastral properly, identify miners and let miners know that in any territory where you are operating, you are responsible for any killing there because the killing that is going on in Nigeria is the killing of people trying to displace people from areas where they have identified resources,” said the SDP presidential candidate 

Mr Zari was a former governor in Zamfara State between 2011 and 2019. He became a lawmaker representing Zamfara West senatorial district at the National Assembly.

He could not immediately be reached for comments on Mr Adewole’s statements.