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Tag: Zamfara

  • I’m under pressure to leave APC – Yari

    *Insists primaries held in Zamfara

    *Says it’s a huge joke to nominate Zamfara Gov candidate from Abuja

     

    Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari, on Friday said that he has been under intense pressure to defect from the All Progressives Congress (APC) with his supporters.

    Yari, who is the Chairman of Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) spoke with State House correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House, Abuja.

    He also handed over the results of the primaries conducted in the state to the President after the Jumaat prayer.

    He promised that despite the pressure from his people to dump the APC, he will remain with the party and fight against any injustice.

    According to him, his supporters were aggrieved over the turn out of events following the party leadership’s refusal to acknowledge the primaries conducted last week in the state.

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had also barred the APC from fielding any candidates for the 2019 poll in Zamfara for not conducting primary elections in the state.

    He explained that the development has caused frustration among his supporters.

    The governor also warned the national leadership of the party not to present any list that did not emanate from the primaries conducted before the expiration of the deadline for the primaries in the state.

    Reacting to reports of his purported romance with the opposition Peoples Democratic Party on the social media, Yari, who was flanked by the Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje, said, “I don’t know whether that is a joke or otherwise.

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    “But for me, if you check my history since 1998, APP, and 2002 when Buhari joined ANPP, and 2015 APC, no time that I shifted from one party to another. That is not in my culture. So, the issue of leaving the party is not true.

    “But some other people are sending rumour through the social media. I have seen my picture with the PDP and other parties. Yes, I cannot deny pressure from the people that we should leave APC but what I told them is that what we are looking for is just justice.

    “We conducted election and we want to see what the result is going to look. But I think for any body to come under the national secretariat and say he is going to nominate a candidate, I think, it is a very huge joke.” he said

    The Zamfara State Governor wondered why the INEC could claim that there were no primaries in the state when the government agencies including the Resident Electoral Commissioner of the electoral umpire was at hand to monitor the process in the state.

    He said though there were some hitches in some places in the state that made the committee to postpone primary elections in the affected areas, the process he said was concluded the next day.

    He said, “There were hitches somewhere but we decided to suspend the area there were problems until the following day. So, the following day, we continued and we concluded the election by the people nominated by that committee to conduct election but the committee ran away and refused to collate the results.

    “So, what we did was that we filed the results and kept it under the watch of those people and waited to see what was going to happen. The second committee waited 32 hours to the closing, we thought the committee will hasten and come up with modalities for the election.

    “But committee wasted about 18 hours discussing about how the modalities were going to be. So, when we realised that, we were actually advised by the supervisory agency that is INEC and other agencies there that the best thing to do as the people had voted and since it was 7am was to start counting.

    “When they finished, they released the materials and we adopted the numbers. Already, we had produced our own set of forms for the national Assembly which we have done and then, when we concluded, I didn’t see members of the committee until one and half hours to the time.

    “Then, when they came I asked them what they came for, they said they came for reconciliation and I said which reconciliation? People can not reconcile over a month and you are trying to reconcile in an hour. Then, I realised that there was a game that was being played so that we can run out of time.” he said

    According to him, the national body of APC had other crude ways to produce candidates contrary to section 87 of the Electoral Act that the party must follow a process before producing any candidate.

    “Therefore, the most important is that we conducted election on the 3rd and 4th of October and all agencies, INEC, Civil Defence, Police, and DSS were there and they signed for us and the report was written by the REC that elections were conducted.

    “Unfortunately, for the INEC to say that there was no election, we don’t know where they got their information but we believe they have a report directly from their representative there that election was held in Zamfara state, so, it depends on what they want to do.

    “But, in any way, we were advised when the chairman of the committee came out and said there was no election in Zamfara state, we realised it was going to be a litigation issue. We quickly rushed to court, we filed a case and the case is coming up next week.

    “So, I think that is the only saving grace for the party and INEC for court of competent jurisdiction to give judgement on Zamfara matter that there was election.” he stated.

  • Don’t sell APC guber ticket to highest bidder – Marafa warns

    The crisis rocking the Zamfara State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) may be far from over.

    A front line governorship aspirant in the state, Senator Kabiru Garba Marafa , on Friday dissociated himself from a meeting convened by the National Chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole with Zamfara governorship aspirants on Thursday.

    Marafa who was reacting a publication on ” Oshiomhole meets Zamfara Guber aspirants, as party considers Lawal”, claimed that Oshiomhole met with the nine governorship aspirants in Abuja on Thursday.

    The Zamfara Central senator in a statement said that he was not aware of the meeting.

    He said,”My attention has been drawn to publication headlined: “Oshiomhole meets Zamfara Guber aspirants, as party considers Lawal.

    ” I want to state emphatically that nobody invited me to any meeting after the failed attempt to conduct primaries/consensus as at 12am Sunday 7th Oct 2018.

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    ” I want to restate further for emphasis that there was neither election nor consensus reached among APC aspirants in Zamfara state.”

    Marafa insisted that he would not be party to any move to trade with the APC Governorship ticket of Zamfara, saying that due process and rule of law must be religiously adhered to.

    He said, “I will not be a party to any attempt by anybody to sell the tickets of APC to any desperate politician(s) by anybody.

    “I will resist any attempt by anybody to do so. May Allah (SWT) guide us to the straight path and give us the ability to act justly and fairly,” he said.

  • Marafa: There was no consensus in Zamfara APC primaries

    Sen. Kabir Marafa (APC/Zamfara Central), has said that there was neither election nor consensus in the botched All Progressives Congress (APC), primaries in Zamfara.

    Marafa was responding to claims by the APC National Chairman, Mr Adams Oshiomhole, that the party arrived at a consensus in Zamfara before the Oct. 7 deadline set by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    INEC had written to the APC conveying its decision to bar the party from fielding candidates in Zamfara in the 2019 general elections, citing its failure to meet the deadline for the conduct of primaries.

    Responding through a letter dated Oct. 10, Oshiomhole had told the commission that although party members bickered over the conduct of the primaries, they arrived at a consensus.

    But Marafa, who was a governorship aspirant in the primaries, disagreed with the APC chairman, saying that Oshiomhole might have been misled by the committee sent to conduct the exercise.

    “The only thing I saw wrong in the letter is the assertion that there was consensus among the aspirants during the primaries.

    “The governorship ticket had nine aspirants. I recall that four withdrew, but there was no consensus among the five left, until the close of primaries by 7 p.m.

    “The primary election committee really tried to bring about consensus, but the two factions of the state chapter of the APC could not agree.

    “What I am saying is that if you force any consensus or say there was one, there is going to be revolt.

    “An aspirant forced out of the race on the ground of consensus has the right to go to court and contest that claim. I don’t want to see that happen.”

    Marafa said that if APC had the legal backing to field a candidate in Zamfara without election or consensus, it should go ahead, otherwise the party should explore other options.

    He said that INEC, in its letter to the party, cited relevant provisions of the Electoral Act as the basis of its decision to bar the APC in the state.

    He pointed out that any argument over the commission’s decision should be based on what the law says regarding the situation in Zamfara.

    “So, if APC has the right to field candidates without these two issues, so be it; we should be allowed to field candidates.

    “But, if we cannot, because of these two issues, then that means we cannot.

    “Any attempt to make it look otherwise will only put the party in a more precarious situation, which I think is avoidable.

    “So, if we are not allowed to do it, then we will look at other options. Those that don’t have other options can stay around for another four years,” he added.

    Marafa, however, refused to disclose the “other options” available to him.

    “I will keep the options close to my chest until the right time,” he said. (NAN)

  • Zamfara: APC kicks as INEC bars candidates

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday faulted the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s letter barring the ruling party from fielding candidates in Zamfara State because it failed to meet the deadline for primaries.

    The party said primaries were held, describing INEC’s letter as preemptive. The party insisted that it will be present candidates for the elections.

    In a letter to the commission entitled “re-failure to conduct party primaries in Zamfara State within the stipulated time frame” National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole said the position of the Commission was a far cry from the actual situation in Zamfara State.

    Oshiomhole explained that aspirants for the various offices met and agreed on candidates by consensus.

    He said the procedure adopted by the candidates was one of the ways stipulated in the Electoral Act stressing that voting was not the only way to conduct party primary.

    Oshiomhole reminded the Commission that the APC is aware that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) did not conduct party primary in Kano, and wondered why the the Commission would  single out the APC for such a letter.

    He said the party expected the electoral umpire to either seek information from the party on the situation or wait for the party to submit its list.

    The leter said: “The summary of the report, as you will find, is that following the high level of friction, disagreements and threatened violence by various political camps before the primaries, all the aspirants met at City King Hotel, Gusau, to find a truce.

    “After hours of intense horse-trading, a consensus was reached within the spirit and context of the Electoral Act and the constitution of our party on the basis of which a list was produced which was confirmed/affirmed by all delegates present.

    “Therefore, the claim in your letter under reference that “no primaries were conducted by your party In the state, notwithstanding that our officials were fully mobilized and deployed” could only be referring to their observation that actual voting did not take place, which is not the only mode prescribed for producing candidates in the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended). We, therefore, affirm that indeed primaries took place in Zamfara State.

    “Please also refer to the lNEC’s Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2019 General Elections released by the Commission on the 9th January, 2018. By that timetable, all political parties are expected to submit a list of their candidates on or before 18th of October, 2018, after exhausting all internal procedures for Appeals arising out of the congresses.

    “As a party, we are in the process of exhausting those internal procedures before forwarding the names of our candidates to you. We are perplexed that you did not wait for us to submit the names of our candidates in Zamfara State (considering that the time within which such submission should take place has not elapsed) before raising your observation in your letter under reference.

    “If you raise further observations after you receive our list of candidates, we shall be glad to clarify them. Please accept the assurances of our highest regards.”

    The governors elected on the APC platform also said the party would sponsor  candidates in Zamfara State.

    Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha said “It is wrong to say thst there was no primary in Zamfara.  I think there were elections as bad as it was and that is what our NWC will be looking at to see how we can find a solution.

    Definitely, we will field candidates in Zamfara state”.

    The INEC letter to the APC signed by Okechukwu Ndeche, the commission’s acting Secretary read: “Failure to Conduct Primaries in Zamfara State Within the Stipulated Time-frame“ .

    “ Please refer to the timetable and schedule of activities for the 2019 general elections released by the commission on Jan. 9 2018.

    “You would note that from the timetable the conduct of primaries is scheduled to take place between August 18 to Oct 7 2018.

    “However, report received from our office in Zamfara state shows that no primaries were conducted by your party in Zamfara, notwithstanding that our officials were fully mobilised and deployed.

    “Consequently, based on the provision of Section 87 and 31 of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended, the commission does not expect that your party will submit names of any candidate from Zamfara state.

    “For clarity, our position therefore, is that the APC will not be fielding candidates for the Governorship, National Assembly and State Assembly elections in Zamfara for the 2019 general elections”.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) learnt that the APC National Secretariat, that the party leadership would contact its legal department before responding on the matter.

    The APC National Working Committee (NWC) on Oct. 5, dissolved the party executives at all levels in Zamfara, after contentious primaries said to have been conducted on Wednesday 3 October and 4 October.

    The dissolved party executives claimed they conducted primaries on 3 October which picked Governor Abdulaziz Yari anointed candidate Alhaji Mukhtar Shehu Idris as winner of the governorship primary election, and Yari himself as winner of Zamfara West senatorial ticket, in a primary conducted 4 October. The NWC invalidated the results.

    The NWC inaugurated a new committee which attempted to conduct the Governorship and Legislative primaries in the State between Saturday October 6, to Sunday October 7.

    The panel failed to conduct the elections because of the threats by Governor Abdulaziz Yari to call out supporters in protest.

  • APC will definitely field governorship candidate in Zamfara – Okorocha

    Gov. Rochas Okorocha of Imo has said that the All Progressives Congress (APC) would definitely field a governorship candidate for Zamfara in 2019 election.

    Okorocha, who is also the Chairman of the Progressives Governors Forum, stated this while speaking with newsmen after a closed door meeting with some APC Governors on Tuesday in Abuja.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that INEC in an earlier letter to the APC, had said that the party was not eligible to field candidates for Governorship, National Assembly and State Assembly elections in Zamfara in 2019.

    The INEC in the letter signed by Mr Okechukwu Ndeche, its acting Secretary, accused the APC of not conducting primaries in Zamfara within the stipulated time-frame according to the Electoral Act.

    The letter read in part: “Please refer to the timetable and schedule of activities for the 2019 general elections released by the commission on Jan. 9, 2018.

    “You would note that from the timetable, the conduct of primaries is scheduled to take place between Aug. 18 and Oct. 7, 2018.

    “However, report received from our office in Zamfara state shows that no primaries were conducted by your party in Zamfara, notwithstanding that our officials were fully mobilised and deployed.

    “Consequently, based on the provision of Section 87 and 31 of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended, the commission does not expect that your party will submit names of any candidate from Zamfara state.”

    Mr Adams Oshiomhole, the APC National Chairman, while responding to INEC`s accusation had said that nothing could be farther from the actual situation in Zamfara, stressing that the party did conduct primaries in the state.

    Okorocha in reacting to the development, said the party`s National Working Committee (NWC) was looking into the issue with a view to addressing it, adding that the APC conducted primaries in Zamfara.

    “It is the outcome of the election that we are looking at now. There is one thing to say there was no election and another thing to say there was improper election.

    “Which ever the case maybe, there was an election in Zamfara, as hot as it was.

    “Zamfara issue is what we are looking at, but definitely, there was an election in the state and nobody will say there was no election.

    “It is left for our party to look at it, and we are looking at it and we are going to come out with the best solution,” Okorocha said.

    He added that the APC NWC would look at the challenges, adding that definitely it has a governorship candidate for Zamfara in 2019.

    Okorocha, however, noted that the APC still had challenges of internal democracy, saying that whenever there were primaries or elections, disagreements would always come up.

    He expressed optimism that the APC would come out victorious in 2019 general elections because Nigerians believe in it.

    The Imo Governor added that the APC was not in any way disturbed with the emergence of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as the 2019 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic. (NAN)

  • Zamfara APC crisis persists

    A front line All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant in Zamfara State, Senator Kabiru Marafa, yesterday described the call by Governor Abdulaziz Yari  to members of the APC in the state to conduct the primary election by themselves as an invitation to anarchy.

    Marafa said Yari told reporters  in Gusau, the Zamfara State capital that all party faithful in the state should conduct the primaries by themselves to beat INEC deadline of midnight.

    Marafa in a statement noted that asking the party members to conduct the primaries without moderators from the national secretariat of APC would lead to anarchy.

    He said, “It is unfortunate that the Governor after deliberately frustrating the conduct of the exercise will now be asking the people to conduct the exercise themselves. This is an invitation to anarchy and we will never be part of any illegality, aimed at pushing the state into anarchy. ”

    Marafa said on Wednesday after Governor Yari allegedly threatened that there would be bloodbath in Zamfara, five innocent persons were killed and many more wounded by Yaris boys, and the culprits are still working freely.

    ” it is  against this background that I’m calling on the national Headquarters of our party to invoke the relevant sections of the party constitution to disqualify Yari and his co travellers to serve as a deterrent to others, ” he said.

    He urged the members of the party not to listen to the Governor, saying Yari was only interested  in looted the resources  of the state and not it’s people or their welfare and wellbeing.

  • ‘I’ll tackle youth migration in Zamfara’

    The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Zamfara state Alhaji Bello Matawallen-Maradun has promised to tackle youth migration, if elected.

    The title holder of Matawallen-Maradun made the promise at a news conference in Gusau yesterday.

    He lamented majority of youths in the state engaged on migration to other states and neighboring countries, especially Niger Republic.

    He attributed the problem to poor economic activities in the state, stating “the present administration in the state had neglected youth empowerment and skill acquisition in the last eight years which necessitated our youths to migrate to other states and neighbouring countries looking for jobs”.

    According to him, the state was in serious need of social and economic interventions to address various insecurity challenges and other social vices.

    “The reason I am giving emphasis to youths migration is because I have the experience.

    “I was opportuned to carry out some cantracts in Niger Republic and most of the youths I saw engaging in illegal mining there are from Zamfara state.

    “That is why I had it in mind that if I am opportuned to be elected as governor of this state, apart from handling the issue of insecurity, the next top agenda to focus on is tackling youths migration and creation of various programmes to generate employment opportunities for our youths for their future development,” he added.

    He cautioned youths in the state to avoid political thuggery and violence and engage in various trades, to become productive in the society.

  • …party risks not fielding governorship candidate, Marafa warns

    A gubernatorial aspirant under the All Progressives Congress (APC) Senator Kabiru Marafa of Zamfara State on Friday warned that the party risks not fielding a candidate in the 2019 election if it fails to conduct credible party primary in the state.

    The APC National Working Committee (NWC) had on Thursday cancelled the Zamfara governorship primary election in the state.

    The APC had said that the cancellation followed election malpractices, including snatching of electoral materials.

    But speaking with State House correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Marafa warned that the primary elections must be conducted before Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) deadline on Sunday or risked disqualification.

    He said “Well, it is not about me now I think it is about APC generally, whether APC has a chance or not because once it is blocked by 12.00 AM (on Sunday) APC will have nowhere to go to.’’

    Stressing that he was in the Villa to update President Buhari on the failed APC governorship primary election in Zamfara State, he alleged that the state governor, Abdulaziz Yari, had lost the support of people of the state.

    Dismissing the allegation of political thuggery being leveled against him by some state government officials, Marafa alleged that Yari and his supporters were trying to sabotage APC’s interest in Zamfara State.

    Meanwhile, the former Zamfara State governor and a stalwart of the party in the state, Senator Ahmed Yerima also met behind closed doors with President Buhari on Friday.

  • ‘APC risks not fielding governorship candidate in Zamfara’

    A gubernatorial aspirant under the All Progressives Congress (APC) Senator Kabiru Marafa of Zamfara State on Friday warned that the party risks not fielding a candidate in the 2019 election if it fails to conduct credible party primary in the state.

    The APC National Working Committee (NWC) had on Thursday cancelled the Zamfara governorship primary election in the state.

    The APC had said that the cancellation followed election malpractices, including snatching of electoral materials.

    But speaking with State House correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Marafa warned that the primary elections must be conducted before Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) deadline on Sunday or risked disqualification.

    He said “Well, it is not about me now I think it is about APC generally, whether APC has a chance or not because once it is blocked by 12.00 a.m. (on Sunday) APC will have nowhere to go to,’’

    Stressing that he was in the Villa to update President Buhari on the failed APC governorship primary election in Zamfara State, he alleged that the state governor, Abdulaziz Yari, had lost the support of people of the state.

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    He described as “illegal and irresponsible’’ the action of the governor after the announcement of the cancellation of the primary by the Prof. Abubakar Faki-led APC Zamfara Governorship Primaries Committee.

    “The chairman of the APC Zamfara Governorship Primaries Committee witnessed the violence, he saw what happened after several days of meeting and he cancelled the election.

    ‘Even when the results started trickling in the governor was nowhere to be found.

    “But the governor came on air to say that he is the chief security officer of the state. So, as far as he is concerned the elections are going to continue on Thursday and he is going to collate the results.

    “This is quite illegal and quite irresponsible with due respect. So that is capable of turning the state upside down,’’ he said.

    Dismissing the allegation of political thuggery being leveled against him by some state government officials, Marafa alleged that Yari and his supporters were trying to sabotage APC’s interest in Zamfara State.

    Meanwhile, the former Zamfara State Governor and a stalwart of the party in the state, Senator Ahmed Yerima also met behind closed doors with President Buhari on Friday.

  • Marafa blames Yari for violence in Zamfara

    ALL Progressives Congress (APC) governorship hopeful Senator Kabiru Garba Marafa yesterday threw his weight behind the decision of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) on cancellation of Wednesday’s governorship primary in Zamfara State.

    The decision followed the recommendation of Professor Abu Fari-led governorship primary committee.

    Marafa, who is one of the aspirants in a statement, blamed Governor Abdul Aziz Yari for the violence that erupted in some parts of the state during the exercise.

    He noted that the insistence on the continuation of the exercise despite the violence orchestrated by those who should have ensured peace was the height of lawlessness and wickedness.

    Marafa said the primary election was postponed thrice and that after an exhaustive meeting with all security agencies, nine governorship aspirants, INEC and the committee sent from Abuja on Tuesday, it was unanimously agreed that the election should hold on Wednesday.

    He noted that after the distribution of election materials, the aspirant agents raised the alarm that ballot papers given to them were not up to 10% of the registered party members in their wards.

    Marafa added that the development forced the committee chairman to summon an emergency meeting in the office of the Commissioner of Police to address the issue.

    He said: “In attendance at the meeting were all the aspirants and heads of other security agencies. The chairman called the National chairman of APC, Chief Adams Oshiomhole, who spoke individually with all the aspirants. In the end, all the aspirants agreed that the ballot papers should be set aside and direct method of people queuing behind the candidate of their choice be adopted.

    Marafa said the National Chairman thereafter gave approval that the system be employed.

    He said: “the election went on smoothly in many wards and results started coming in, then suddenly violence erupted in major towns where desperate government officials organised thugs to attack party members, especially women.”

    The development, he said, forced the chairman of the election committee to quickly cancel the election to halt the crisis.

    “It is pertinent to mention here that the governor’s candidate lost in all the wards where elections held.

    “Hours after the cancellation, desperate Governor Yari went on air to announce that election will continue today (Thursday) without even condoling and sympathising with the families of the deceased and the injured persons,” he said.

    He urged APC members of the party and the people of the state to remain calm, abide by the decision of the national committee and await further announcement.