Marafa: Yari Working with Others to Sabotage Buhari’s Re-election

Says no ward congress held in Zamfara

Tobi Soniyi

Zamfara State Governor, Alhajji Adul’azizi Yari, is working with some other members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to sabotage the re-election bid of President Muhammadu Buhari, the senator representing Zamfara Central in the National Assembly, Garba Marafa, has alleged.
Speaking with THISDAY on the phone, Marafa said contrary to the claim by Yari, no ward congress of the APC held in Zamfara last weekend.

He said the governor wanted a congress by affirmation because he did not have enough support to go for election but the people objected.
He accused the governor of planting land mines that would truncate Buhari’s ambition because the governor himself has intention to run for the office of president.

Marafa described Yari as “one of the fifth columnists within the party.”
He said: “There was no congress in Zamfara because the guidelines said you either do consensus or you do election. There was no consensus. There was no election in Zamfara last Saturday, there was therefore no ward executive in the whole of Zamfara.”
He blamed the illegality that took place in the state on the governor saying, he (the governor) does not have the majority and was afraid to go into election.
Marafa said Yari disobeyed the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria who has given instruction that congress should be by election.

He said: ”There is a grand plan by some members of the party to frustrate the re-election of the president. The first thing they came up with was extension of tenure. Funny enough, my governor, the governor of Zamfara State is one of the people that went to court to say that the extension was illegal and that we must go for elective congress. The question is, what has changed from that time and now?

“Their plan now is that they would perpetuate this illegality, some people will go to court and the court will nullify the congresses after people have been elected based on that congresses. Such people would have their elections nullified.”
He said the Local Government Congress Committee made the point very clear to all party members in the state that the congress would either be by election or affirmation.

Marafa said when party members presented their payment slips to enable them collect accreditation forms that would enable them vote, the committee chairman told them that there were not enough forms to go round.
He said: “The chairman shouted that there is a problem. He said he did not have enough forms as he was only given 1,400 forms from the headquarters. And we need more than 4000 forms.”

Marafa explained that the chairman asked that he be allowed to contact headquarters for directives.
The senator said the guidelines required that each delegate returns the form to the committee 24 hours before election.
Marafa said he demanded to see the members’ register with which the committee would conduct the election only to be told that there was no such register.

The senator said when he demanded to know what would be done in the circumstance, the chairman of the committee said he would call a stakeholders’ meeting.
“The chairman said he would call me and inform me whatever decision the headquarters decides to take. But he never did. Only for me to receive a speech delivered by the governor wherein he claimed that consensus had been reached in his ward
“The governor claimed that there was affirmation but there can not be affirmation when some people have paid their money and have collected their tellers. This mean there was no consensus.

Marafa said members of the party in Zamafara have insisted that the local government congress would be dissolved
He called on the president to hold the governor responsible if the process leads to breakdown of law and order in Zamfara State. Consensus is not by force. The governor can’t force us to do consensus.”

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