Shinkafi: Yari, Marafa Trying to Sabotage APC’s Chances in 2023

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Sani Abdulahi Shinkafi, has accused a former governor of Zamfara State, Abdulazeez Yari and Senator Kabiru Marafa of trying to enact the similar senario of 2019 and sabotage the efforts of the party to win the 2023 general election.

He said the ward congresses conducted by the party at weekend in Zamafara State remainedvalid and that no court could set it aside as it conformed to all constitutional provisions.

Shinkafi urged the National leadership of the party to apply sanctions by expelling them from the party.

In a statement reacting to the boycott of the congresses by Yari, Marafa and their supporters, Shinkafi said their protest was a non-issue as they were not registered members of the party.

“Senator Kabiru Marafa and Abdul’aziz Yari, don’t have any genuine reason to go to court,because they were not registered as members of APC during the last concluded APC revalidation/ registration exercise,” he said, claiming that after the defection of Governor Bello Mattawalle to APC, the duo refused to validate their membership of the party.

“You cannot build something on nothing; you cannot build a house without a concrete foundation? When you have not been duly registered as a member of APC, so, what locus standi do you have to challenge the exercise in court? Since they do not have membership cards as duly registered members of APC, they lack the locus to challenge any decision taken by the party.

“Party registers were used for the conduct Congresses and primary election. All the party registers must be duly certified by the National Headquarters of APC in Abuja, and their names are not in the register,” he said.

Shinkafi, however, said as far as he was concerned, there was no faction in Zamfara APC, adding that the Congresses conducted remained valid and no court could it set-aside.