On April 26, 2011, Abdul-aziz Yari Abubakar was elected Governor of Zamfara State on the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party(ANPP).
In February 2020, at the Committee interim report press conference, Zabarma announced that the Yari administration had spent a suspiciously inflated amount on incomplete or yet-to-be-started projects.
[18] The Project Verification Committee released its final report in late September which Matawalle claimed showed that Yari's administration had stole over ₦107 billion from the state.
In September 2020, Matawalle's Finance Commissioner Rabiu Garba claimed Yari and an associate diverted ₦37 billion in refunds on federal projects away from state government coffers.
[22][23] In February 2021, the Peoples Gazette reported that on the day before Yari left the Governor's office, he wired ₦350 million to EFAB Properties Limited, a real estate developer based in Abuja.
[24] In February and April 2021, Yari was detained and interrogated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in connection with around ₦300 billions he attempted to move from a corporate bank account.
In the invitation letter sent to Yari to summon him for the April interrogation, the EFCC Director of Operations, Abdulkarim Chukkol, stated "conspiracy, diversion of public funds and money laundering" as the grounds for the interview.
The judge stated that the interim order would last 60 days while the ICPC investigated further with the hearing on final forfeiture scheduled for April 28.