“Farming is Our Pride”
- Capital
- Gusau
- Created
- 1 October 1996
- Population
- 5,833,500 2022 estimate
- LGAs
- 14
His Excellency
Dauda Lawal
Executive Governor of Zamfara State
All Progressives Congress North-West
- In office since
- 29 May 2023
- Term
- 1st term
- Term ends
- May 2027
- Deputy
- Mani Mallam Mummuni
Biography
Dauda Lawal (born 2 September 1965), also known as Dauda Lawal Dare, is a Nigerian banker and politician who has served as Governor of Zamfara State since 29 May 2023. Born in Gusau, he studied political science at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and holds a PhD in business administration from Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto.
After early roles in public mobilisation, the private sector and Nigeria's diplomatic mission in Washington, D.C., Lawal spent about a decade at First Bank of Nigeria, rising to executive director in charge of the public sector in northern Nigeria. He sought the APC governorship ticket in 2018, and in 2022 won the PDP nomination.
In the March 2023 election Lawal defeated the incumbent, Bello Matawalle of the APC, by 377,726 votes to 311,976, the first time the PDP had won a governorship election in Zamfara. He took office on 29 May 2023 with Mani Mallam Mummuni as deputy governor. Security has dominated his tenure: his government created the Zamfara Community Protection Guards (Askarawan Zamfara) and provided vehicles to security agencies, alongside a 'rescue agenda' covering agriculture, education, health, the economy and empowerment.
On 9 March 2026 Lawal announced his defection from the PDP to the APC, citing the PDP's internal crisis and the need to align with the federal government on security; his deputy announced the decision on his behalf and moved with him. In December 2025 he received the Nigeria Excellence Award in Public Service (Governance and Security Reform) from President Bola Tinubu.
Career before office
Dauda Lawal began his career in 1989 as a political education officer with the Directorate for Mass Mobilization for Social and Economic Reliance (MAMSER), and later worked at Westex Nigeria Limited. From 1994 he served at the Embassy of Nigeria in Washington, D.C., as an assistant consular officer and later chief protocol officer. He joined First Bank of Nigeria in 2003 and rose through business-development and public-sector roles to become executive director, Public Sector North, in 2012. He contested the APC governorship primary in Zamfara in 2018 without success.
Key initiatives in office
- Creation of the Zamfara Community Protection Guards (Askarawan Zamfara), with a first batch of about 2,600 personnel inaugurated in January 2024
- Provision of operational vehicles to security agencies operating in the state
- Reconstruction and renovation of hundreds of public schools
- Raising the state minimum wage to N70,000 and payment of a 13th-month salary to workers
- Completion of projects in Bakura, Gummi, Bukkuyum and Maru LGAs in his first year
- Nigeria Excellence Award in Public Service (Governance and Security Reform), 2025
Education
- BSc Political Science, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (1987)
- MSc Political Science/International Relations, Ahmadu Bello University (1992)
- PhD Business Administration, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto
Zamfara State at a glance
North-West
Other governors in the zone
Jigawa State
Umar Namadi
Kaduna State
Uba Sani
Kano State
Abba Kabir Yusuf
Katsina State