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Tag: Zamfara APC

  • Ozekhome, AGF differ over Zamfara APC candidates’ fate

    CONFUSION persisted yesterday on the fate of All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates in Zamfara State as two legal giants offer the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) contrary opinions on how best to proceed in view of Wednesday’s decision by the Court of Appeal in Sokoto.

    Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) Abubakar Malami (SAN) yesterday told INEC to abide by the subsisting Court of Appeal (Sokoto) decision, “which effectively upheld the APC primaries in Zamfara State.

    He said INEC was without any option than to tarry awhile and accommodate the APC candidates in Zamfara.

    In a contrary opinion, Mike Ozekhome, (who is a lawyer to the Senator Kabiru Marafa faction of the APC in Zamfara) argued that the Court of Appeal judgment did not uphold the party’s primary.

    He urged INEC to disregard Malami’s advice and proceed with the elections as scheduled without allowing the APC to filed candidates in Zamfara.

    Malami spoke in a statement issued on his behalf in Abuja yesterday by his spokesman, Salisu Othman. Ozekhome made his position known in the letters he wrote to the INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu and the AGF.

    The AGF said his understanding of the position of things, based on a petition by M.A. Mahmud (lawyer to the Abdulaziz Yari faction of the party), informed his February 13, 2019 letter to the INEC Chairman, requesting compliance with the judgment and extending the time within which the APC should field its candidate in the elections.

    Malami added: “It is pertinent to note that the constraining circumstances that led to the delay in fielding a candidate were caused by INEC’s refusal to comply with the Zamfara State High Court judgment, which upheld the said APC primaries.

    “INEC had relied on a Federal High Court decision, which nullified the primaries. However, the Court of Appeal decision in reference has now effectively overturned this decision and upheld the said APC primaries.

    “It is also relevant to reiterate the provisions of sections 38 and 39 of the Electoral Act, 2010, which allows INEC the latitude and discretion to extend the time within which a political party may duly field a candidate for an election, where unforeseen circumstances constrained such a party from doing so within the stipulated time frame.

    “It is therefore our position that shutting a candidate out of the elections despite a subsisting Court of Appeal’s decision mandating otherwise would lead to a miscarriage of justice and certainly not in the interest of giving all parties in Zamfara State a level playing field.

    “Our letter to INEC is therefore in line with the subsisting Court of Appeal decision as well as Sections 38 and 39 of the Electoral Act, 2010.”

    Ozekhome, who faulted Malami’s position, urged INEC to proceed with its planned election and allow the feuding parties in Zamfara APC, who were current in court, to exhaust their legal options.

    He argued that while it was only Aminu Jaji, who withdrew his appeal against the judgment of the Zamfara High Court that upheld the primaries, another appeal by Senator Kabiru Garba Marafa and others was still pending.

    Ozekhome said the Appeal Court in Sokoto has scheduled a ruling for today (February 15) in a motion for stay of execution of the Zamfara High Court judgment, filed in the appeal by Marafa and others.

    He added that another appeal against the January 25 judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which did not recognise any primary by the APC in Zamfara, was currently pending before the Appeal Court in Abuja.

    Ozekhome argued that contrary to the views expressed by the AGF in paragraph five of his January 13 letter, there was never a time the Court of Appeal upheld the primaries by the Zamfara APC as valid.

    He alleged that the erroneous conclusion contained in the AGF’s letter was informed by the wrong interpretation accorded the ruling of the Court of Appeal by Mahmud.

    Ozekhome argued that “there is no legal basis whatsoever for INEC to change its well informed position by acceding to the demands of M.A. Mahmud, SAN & Co, or the AGF, to ‘comply with the judgment of the Court of Appeal by admitting the results of the APC Zamfara State primaries and to also comply with the provisions of Section 38 of the Electoral Act which empowers INEC to postpone the election for the governorship, National Assembly and House of Assembly elections.’

    “No such judgment exists anywhere.”

    INEC, however, said it received the letter from the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, demanding the postponement of the National Assembly, governorship and State House of Assembly elections in Zamfara State.

    INEC said it was still studying the letter after which it will make its position known.

     

  • Zamfara: Agbakoba questions AGF’s letter to INEC

    A former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) president Dr Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) has urged Attorney-General of the Federation Abubakar Malami (SAN) to withdraw the letter asking the Independent National Electoral Commission  (INEC ) to postpone election in Zamfara State.

    The AGF asked INEC to postpone the election to enable the All Progressives Congress (APC) field candidates in the state.

    INEC barred APC from fielding contestants for failing to meet up with the deadline for submission of candidates.

    Agbakoba argued that if anyone was to make the postponement request, it should be the APC, not the AGF.

    He said: “I am shocked by your letter to INEC on the above subject. You are the Attorney-General of the Federation and not the Attorney-General of INEC.

    “INEC is an independent institution and cannot take directives from the Federal Government.

    “If there is need for the postponement of the Zamfara State election as indicated in your letter, the proper person to request the postponement is the APC.

    “In any case, Sections 38 and 39 of the Electoral Act 2010 which your request is based on have nothing to do with postponement of elections.

    “President Muhammadu Buhari has at various fora undertaken that the Federal Government will not interfere with INEC. Your letter puts that commitment to question. It is my hope that this letter will be immediately withdrawn.”

  • Zamfara: PDP faults AGF on letter to INEC

    Calls for free, fair, transparent poll

     

    The Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP ) has faulted the Attorney General for the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami on his letter to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    In the said letter, Malami had advised INEC to postpone the general elections in Zamfara State, to accommodate a ruling of the Sokoto Division of the Court of Appeal, purportedly directing the electoral body to allow the Zamfara State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) field candidates for the upcoming elections.

    INEC had barred the state chapter of the APC from fielding candidates for elections for submitting names of its candidates after the expiration of the deadline prescribed by the Electoral Act.

    However, after series of legal rigmarole initiated by the leadership of the Zamfara APC, the Appeal Court purportedly gave the go ahead to the chapter to submit the lists of its candidates to INEC for the governorship and state assembly elections scheduled to hold on March 2.

    But in a swift reaction on Thursday, the National Chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus described the AGF’s letter to INEC as part of APC’s design to arm-twist INEC and the judiciary to take illegal actions in their favour.

    Addressing a news conference at the Legacy House, the party’s Abuja campaign office, Secondus said what the AGF was seeking is not backed by law.

    According to the party chair, the AGF is an interested party in this matter and thus has no moral right to advice INEC.

    Secondus said, “The inability of the APC to field candidates due to self-inflicted crisis when other parties did within the stipulated period for the election is not covered by section 38 & 39 of the Electoral Act 2010 which the AGF is relying on for his dubious advice.

    “I, therefore, call on INEC to follow the dictates of the law and continue in its plan to achieve a credible election”, adding that the 2019 general elections, more than any other in the past, provide an opportunity for the country to get on the right path.

    “The challenge that we now face is one of expectation. Those entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring that the expression of the people’s will is made manifest, have time and again failed to demonstrate good faith. We expect better than we are getting,

    “A sick narrative has emerged, one of systemic and systematic rigging, manipulation of the true record of the voters register and a cabal you can no longer trust with the trajectory and growth of our democracy and nation.

    “This is the evidence of bad faith by those managing the election and the government of the day”, Secondus said.

    The party chair accused the electoral body of failing to clean up its register of voters before it published same, against the practice under previous INEC administrations.

    He also faulted the voting arrangements put in place by the electoral body whereby accreditation and voting will go on simultaneously.

    It’s a departure from arrangements in previous elections where voters were first accredited and allowed to vote only after the end of the accreditation exercise.

    According to the party chairman, the new continuous voting regime this was meant to facilitate multiple voting by APC members in their numbers.

    Also, Secondus alleged that the voter register compiled by INEC contained data of dead voters for whom Permanent Voter Cards (PVC) were printed and distributed nationwide.

    Quoting official government data, the party chairman said the gross death rate in the country stood at 12.5 per 1000 lives, adding that from available evidence, over 1,050,051 dead persons would vote in the upcoming elections.

    “The decision that dead voters will cast ballots has been taken by INEC and the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    The idea of ghost voters is consistent with the nature of this virtual President.

    “There has been a coordinated approach to register foreigners as voters, mainly from Niger and Cameroon. That is why INEC has established so many polling units along the borders with Cameroon and Niger. That is despite the fact that population data did not justify the move”, Secondus said.

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    Speaking on Saturday’s presidential election, the party chairman cited multiple “intelligence sources” available to the PDP showing that the APC, in conjunction with INEC, through the ICT situation room, have concluded plans to manipulate the outcome of the election.

    He said, “By deliberately corrupting the INEC voter’s register to induce voter suppression in PDP strongholds and operations areas with the aim of disenfranchising at least four voters through corrupting of their four names on the voters register.

    “The strategy is to create artificial problems wherein at least four registered voters can be disfranchised in PDP strong hold areas. The target is to adequately limit the estimated members of PDP who would want to vote in their areas.

    “There is a deliberate ploy to disrupt Internet services and jam cell tower coverage ostensibly to prevent Nigerians from covering the elections via social media.

    “There is also confirmed intelligence showing that critical PDP players in this election are to be earmarked, arrested and quarantined to a particular location to give way for the elections to be rigged.

    “The other intelligence available to the party also shows that some uniforms of para-military and military operatives, particularly the Army and Police, have been produced in large numbers for use by civilians during the voting period.

    “To send faulty card reader machines to certain identified PDP strongholds and record a deliberate slow screening of voters to frustrate and discourage them.

    “They have packaged large sums of foreign currency to induce voters and security and INEC operatives.

    “We also have on good authority that all the electoral frauds via the ICT, which the APC has mapped out, are being coordinated by a highly placed government official (body bag) with the help of some foreigners inside an apartment in the government House and other locations in Kaduna state.

    “We have deep respect for our security personnel who are sworn to protect and defend our constitution and the integrity of our nation. President Buhari administration however, is determined to subvert the impartiality of our security agencies.

    “It has recently moved personnel to areas along the borders, where they will be employed to create violence, stuff ballots and aid non-Nigerians to vote in a predetermined manner”.

    Secondus also alleged extravagant use of money at APC campaigns through advertisements, billboards and the use of state media as an instrument of the party, adding that the use of public resources for partisan purposes is unprecedented.

    The chairman similarly faulted the decision by INEC not to transmit election results electronically, saying this was caused by the refusal of President Buhari to sign the law that would have made this possible.

     

  • Obey Appeal Court judgement on Zamfara, APC tells INEC

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately enlist its candidates in Zamfara state for the general election which begins on Saturday in compliance with the judgement of the Sokoto division of the Court of Appeal.

    The court had dismissed an appeal against the judgement of the High Court of Zamfara state ordering the commission to accept the list of candidates presented to it by the party.

    National Legal Adviser of the party, Babatunde Ogala told newsmen after a meeting between the Deputy National Chairman, South, Otumba Niyi Adebayo the Zamfara state governor, Abdulaziz Yari and his Ekiti state counterpart, Kayode Fayemi that even if INEC was right in obeying only the pronouncement of the Federal High Court in Abuja which made no order, there is a judgement of a superior court now which the commission must obey.

    Ogala said “We all know the tragerary of the Zamfara matter where despite having a positive order of court asking INEC to accept the list of our candidates from a properly held, conducted, supervised and observed primary by INEC, it still said, in its opinion because there was a conflicting order of court of coordinate jurisdiction refused to accept our candidates.

    “Let me emphasis that the court in Abuja did not make any order. The only order was from the High Court in Zamfara. Some people in their wisdom, appealed the decision of the High Court in Gusau. That is the matter that now went on appeal and the Court of Appeal in Sokoto has now dismissed the appeal and affirmed the decision of the Zamfara state High Court which upheld that the APC had a legitimate primary and that INEC should accept the list of our candidates.

    “Let us assume, though not conceding that INEC was right in saying it had two conflicting orders of court of coordinate jurisdiction and choose to accept the one that made no order as against the one that had a positive order, now we have a judgement of a higher court which has now affirmed the decision of the Zamfara state High Court compelling INEC to accept our list of candidates and we are hopeful that INEC will comply with the order of court and have our candidates on the ballot.”

    Asked if the party planned to hold any meeting with INEC on the issue, Ogala said “there is nothing like having to meet with INEC. What we owe who was a respondent in the matter is to forward a copy of the judgement of the Court of Appeal to INEC even though they are already aware, so that they will reflect the names of our already submitted candidates on the ballot for the elections”

    Also speaking, Zamfara state governor, Abdulaziz Yari said the people of the state were grateful to God for the judgement, stressing that INEC should follow the part of honour and obey the judgement of the court of Appeal.

    Yari said “I give thanks to God in whose infinite mercies, this judgement came up. If the judgement had been to the contrary, it would have been different. But the Court dismissed the appeal and affirmed the judgement of the High Court. You know what that means. We are happy with the outcome and we are here to work with the party to convey the enrollment order to INEC and to ensure that they comply with the order.

    “Even if the two judgments from the high court were conflicting, we now have the judgement of a superior court and we except INEC to comply and now follow the part of anarchy or go against the laws of the land. So, we believe strongly that INEC will comply.“

  • Buhari shifts Zamfara campaign rally

    *We’ll campaign for you, Marafa tells Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari has postponed his campaign rally earlier scheduled for Zamfara State on Sunday.

    The postponement of the rally is linked to the crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the State.

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had also released the final list of candidates for the March 2 Governorship and State House of Assembly election without any name for APC Governorship candidate for Zamfara State.

    The Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina confirmed the postponement.

    Speaking with State House correspondents on the latest development, Senator kabiru Marafa, said “I am not aware of the cancellation of the APC Zamfara rally; honestly because I was not told. As I said, I just submitted a proposal which I think will serve the interest of our party, the president and our people.

    “We don’t have candidates for now because of the political impasse that characterised Zamfara State in the last few months and the president is billed to be in Zamfara on Sunday, Feb. 3

    “Because of the rumple between disagreeing parties, we felt it is better Mr President suspends his visit to Zamfara. After all, we are there; we can campaign for him; he knows us; he knows our individual capacities; there is no point bringing all the factions under one umbrella, because once the president is there, if you like the president and you are with him, you will like to show your face.

    “However, we feel it is avoidable; but you cannot come to the president with just one single suggestion. So. I just put my opinion across; that if it is a must; maybe the party has fixed Feb. 3 for the visit, then we want to be excused because there is no way President Muhammad Buhari will go to Zamfara and my face is not seen and people will not ask questions and I think it is not fair just to be absent like that.

    “We are not doing what we are doing to impress anybody; we have already gotten all the necessary trust and belief from Mr President even if he is not there, we will do the right thing.

    “But if the party or the Presidential Campaign Council feel they must be in Zamfara on Sunday, we and our supporters want to be excused and we will conduct our own rally for the president on a different date and we will televise it live on NTA so that everybody can see; so let everybody show his support in Zamfara not to come together and then everybody will be claiming victory that I pulled this crowd; let everybody stand on his own.

    “The most important thing is that we all believe in Mr President and we all like him and we will support him and we want him to win; so let us work individually, and Feb. 16, we will all converge on the box and show what we can do but let the people of Nigeria see us individually.” he added

    On way forward, he said “The way forward like we proposed before the State High Court in Zamfara that heard complaints from the governor and his side. The governor went to court and said he conducted primary elections, we joined the case and said no, you didn’t conduct elections because you don’t have the right; the constitutional powers to do so; it is not the size of your office that determines what you can do; it is the constitutions that specifies your functions and responsibilities.

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    “State governors cannot conduct elections, state party chapters cannot conduct elections, so nobody except the National Working Committee of the political party especially our own–that is specifically mentioned in the constitution.

    “So, only the political party can conduct primary elections. So, we felt that APC needed to be represented; the people of Zamfara State needed to be given choice and they say variety is the spice of life; the more the variety, the better for the people.

    “However, that variety should not just come because a political party feels they must be there, no. Justice must prevail; you cannot exclude some people and claim that APC should not be included, no.

    “We asked the court that APC could not conduct primaries in Zamfara not because they cannot or they failed to do so. The issue was that there was a subsisting court order; this crisis started from the congresses that were conducted in April last year; two factions emerged—Yari had his own party executives, I have my own party executives.

    “However, the NWC then cleared the governor’s side and recognised it and we went to court that the process was flawed; that we were disenfranchised and we will not agree.

    “The court looked at the complaints because primary elections were approaching that time; it gave an order that both Marafa and the other faction should stay away from anything that has to do with party executives at the local level; so what that means is–the NWC only sends a panel of maybe 7, 10, 14 people but we require 441 local staff to conduct the primaries across the 147 wards of the state.

    “The first attempt on Oct. 3, we agreed that since these factions will not participate, how do we get staff? So, we said let’s use the Nigerian Union of Teachers(NUT). So, NUT provided the staff but however as the process began and the government saw it was losing, they unleashed mayhem; there was violence.

    “The chairman cancelled the elections. On the 7th when they came back, the NUT compromised somehow; they were put under pressure because they are under the state government.

    “So, we could not agree on the local organising committee that is the local staff. This is actually what stopped APC from conducting primaries. We now asked the court, the reason why we could not do was because there was no local staff; now that primary elections are over in all the states of the federation, APC can bring in staff from anywhere to conduct the primary election; so we asked the court, mandate APC to conduct fresh primaries and ask INEC to collect the result.

    “This is what we did, but the governor and his side did not want that because they cannot face the people in any election. They know if there are primaries, they will lose; so they now prayed to the court that prayer should not be granted. And the judge in his own wisdom granted their own prayers and rejected that part of the prayer.

    “So, we are now before the appeal court to say that Appeal Court should reconsider the judgement and give APC new lease of life; allow APC to conduct primaries; just one day is okay. We conduct primaries and submit the result to INEC.” he said

    He also expressed the hope that the Appeal Court will do justice to the people of Zamfara and to the various aspirants that purchased the forms at a very high cost.

  • Zamfara APC not eligible to field candidates, says INEC

    THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has again maintained its stance that the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Zamfara State is not eligible to field candidates in the forthcoming general elections.

    The decision was reached after reviewing the two conflicting judgments on the issue.

    In the last one week, there have been two different court pronouncements on Zamfara.

    A High Court in Zamfara favoured the inclusion of the party and a Federal High Court in Abuja ruled in favour of the commission omitting the party from the elections.

    INEC had excluded the party due to its failure to conduct its primaries within the time lag.

    The commission finally rolled out names of the candidates to participate in the general elections, excluding candidates from Zamfara APC.

    A statement by the National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and  Voter Education, Festus Okoye, stated that after considering both rulings, INEC has decided to maintain its earlier position that the party is not eligible to filed candidates for the 2019 polls.

    He supported this position with Section 87 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended).

    The statement reads: “The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) met today, January 30, 2019 and, among other things, approved the final list of candidates for the governorship, state Assembly and FCT Area Council elections scheduled to hold on March 2 2019.

    On the whole, there are 1,066 candidates for the governorship elections, 14,583 for the state assembly elections and 806 for the FCT Area Council elections broken down into 105 chairmanship candidates and 701 councillorship candidates.

    Okoye said: “The commission reviewed the situation concerning the APC fielding candidates for the governorship and state Assembly elections in Zamfara State. Commission noted that there are two court judgements on the matter – one from a State High Court in Gusau and the other from a Federal High Court in Abuja. The former judgement clearly said the APC conducted primaries in Zamfara State, contrary to the position of the commission. On the other hand, the Federal High Court in Abuja ruled that the party did not conduct valid primaries and therefore not ineligible to field candidates for the elections.

    “The commission would like to reaffirm its commitment to obeying all court judgements, even when it disagrees with them. However, these are clearly two contradictory judgments delivered by two courts of coordinate jurisdiction on the same day.

    “Consequently, the commission has decided to maintain its original position that the party in question did not conduct primaries and, therefore, in line with Section 87 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended), is not eligible to field candidates for the National Assembly, governorship and state assembly elections in Zamfara State.

    “Commission also reviewed various aspects of its preparedness for the 2019 general elections and expressed satisfaction with the overall preparations for the elections. A meeting with all the Resident Electoral Commissioners will take place next week to further review the state of preparedness of each state.”

  • Controversy over Zamfara APC congresses

    The Zamfara State All Progressives Congress (APC) has been hit by a crisis, following its disputed ward, local government and state congresses. The battle line is drawn between supporters of Governor Abdulazeez Yari and those of Senator Kabiru Marafa. Who laughs last? Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU examines the effects of the acrimony on the troubled chapter.

    Zamfara State Governor Abdulaziz Yari and Senator Kabiru Marafa have not closed ranks, months after the rancorous ward, council and state congresses of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The war of attrition has polarised the party and affected its cohesion. Is there an end in sight to the acrimony and division?

    The battle is between two forces holding on to two antagonistic strands of opinion. The dispute underscores the tension between consensus and election. The constitution of the party provides for consensus. That informed the decision of the State Working Committee to issue a guideline along that line. The advantage of consensus is that it prevents bickering and the logjam associated with delegate elections and direct primaries.

    But, according to the guidelines, where party faithful fail to agree on consensus, the logical answer is intra-party election, which is final.

    The two APC camps were locked in suspicion and mutual distrust. Since the congresses would lay the foundation for politics of nominations ahead of next year’s elections, they perceived the congresses as the first phase of the ‘2019 battle.’ The camp of the governor was favourably disposed to consensus. Marafa and his group were irked by the option, pointing out that it was undemocratic. Before the commencement of the exercise on May 5, the faction loyal to the senator reiterated its objection to what it described as imposition, urging the congress panel chaired by Ambassador Dauda Danladi to conduct an elective congress. Copies of the protest letters were sent to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Zamfara State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Police Commissioner and Director of State Security Service (SSS).

    The petition was ignored. On the day of the exercise, the candidates of the governor emerged as party officers through affirmation. Marafa, who represents Zamfara Central in the Upper Chamber, cried foul, saying it was fraudulent. He said it was wrong to go ahead with the state congress without permitting his group to ventilate its grievances. The senator alleged that while his faction fulfilled the guidelines by paying the prescribed fees for contestants, those who contested in Yari camp did not pay as required by law. He accused the Congress Planning Committee of bias, stressing that they took sides in the dispute.

    Marafa’s supporters said they were prepared for an elective congress, unlike the governor who insisted on consensus and affirmation. The faction queried: “Why is the governor afraid of election? Any politician that is afraid of election has no business in politics. Why was the guideline flouted?”

    But, Yari supporters fired back, saying the congresses complied with the laid down regulations.

    According to the guidelines, forms should be obtained, following the presentation of bank tellers. The forms should be filled and returned before the commencement of the elections. But, as Marafa claimed, the congress committee arrived Gusau, the state capital, less than 12 hours to the exercise on May 5. Although the faction paid for 4,704 forms, only 1,400 forms were issued to the group. Also, Marafa’s supporters were taken aback when they discovered that the committee could not lay its hand on the register of party members, which the guidelines said it should be used to conduct the election. The committee did not have the list of three ad hoc staff per ward that should be posted to wards other than their own to conduct the congresses. Although the guidelines stipulated that the names of contestants should be didplayed in each ward where voting will take place, the condition was not fulfilled.

    Aggrieved party members said history was repeating itself in Zamfara, recalling that the same exclusion happened during the time of former Governor Aliyu Shinkafi when Marafa was denied the senatorial ticket in 2011, contrary to the advise of stakeholders who insisted on the election of their flag bearers for the elections. Although the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was in control of the federal, state and local governments, the people of Central District defiled the party and voted for Marafa, who contested against the PDP candidate in the senatorial poll. Marafa scored 203,000 votes while the PDP candidate polled 93,000. Rejecting the imposition of candidates, the people voted for popular candidates who lacked the governor’s backing. That circumstances prepared the ground for the emergence of Yari as governor.

    According to party chieftains, Marafa, the Chairman of Senate Committee on Petroleum (Upstream), is still popular. They said the APC cannot risk his defection to another platform because his zone accounts for 48 per cent of the total registered voters, although it has not produced the governor of the state since 1999.

    Marafa is bitter. His supporters said the bitterness is justifiable. He told the Congress Appeal Panel that he was excluded from the exercise deliberately, despite the fact that he paid for forms that were denied his group. He maintained that the forms issued to Yari’s supporters from the APC National Secretariat were not paid for, He challenged the congress committee to tender the evidence of payment before the exercise. He tendered the bank tellers from his group as evidence of compliance with guidelines.

    The senator complained that the venue of the congress in Gusau was cordoned off to prevent members of his faction from participating in the exercise. He said he was denied access to the venue of the Tsafe Local Government Congress on May 12, although he is a statutory delegate. He also complained that his security details were disarmed, tear gassed and arrested by over-zealous mobile policemen.

    In Marafa’s view, there were no congresses in Zamfara, stressing that what took place was a charade.  Alarmed at the complaints, Danladi acknowledged that Zamfara APC was beset with problems. He tried to pacify the aggrieved, saying it is a family matter that can be settled amicably.

    The congress at a time also became a bone of contention between Yari and his distant predecessor, Senator Yerima. The former governor had raised an objection when Yari allegedly tried to sponsor a chieftain who is not in Yerima’s good book. In fact, Yerima threatened to walk out of the venue in protest. Sources said Yari, who quickly retraced his steps, drafted one of his commissioners to the chairmanship race. Marafa doubted if the emergency candidate obtained a form.

    He added: “All the governor’s candidates who never obtained forms as at the time of election as stipulated by the guidelines were all affirmed and returned elected.”

    What is the way out of the logjam? The senator urged the national chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and the National Working Committee (NWC) to investigate what he described as “infractions in Zamfara APC.” He advised the national leadership to call a meeting of Zamfara APC stakeholders for the purpose of correcting the anomalies, which, in his view, can affect the chances of the party in next year’s elections. He feared that affirmation may also be adopted during the proposed primaries, thereby party on fire.

    The Zamfara APC imbroglio may portend danger to its future electoral interest. It is escalating at a tome  Oshiomhole and the NWC are working assiduously to douse tension in the party nationwide. Scores of chieftains, led by Buba Galadima, have defected from the party to another party. Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom is still being pacified to jettison his defection plan. Although Marafa has not indicated that he will defect, his followers are disenchanted and restless.

    The senator said:”I am calling for reconciliation as the aggrieved party chieftains who were excluded from the congresses have genuine grievances that can still be resolved before 2019 polls.”

    But, the new chairman, Alhaji Lawan Liman, said there is no crisis in the chapter, adding that it is a figment of imagination. He gave an impression of personality clash between the governor and the senator, which, in his opinion, may not have bearing on party management. He said the party has given opportunity to the senator to ventilate his grievances before the appeal panel. The chairman said the national leadership of the party does not believe that there is crisis in the Zamfara chapter.

    Liman added: “I don’t know anything about crisis in Zamfara. You were at the convention of the party. Was Zamfara listed among states where we had crisis? After the inauguration, they mentioned just three states-Imo, Delta and Oyo- and they were urged to go and settle. Ee have since moved on in Zamfara because the governor is interested in a united party ahead of the election.

    “As a party, there are procedures. If he( senator) thinks that he has an issue with the governor, he should go back and settle with the governor. We are not aware we have any issue with him (Marafa) as a party. He has gone to the Appeal Committee. If he had case, the committee would have listened.

    In Zamfara, we don’t have any crisis.”