Ejiofor Alike
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has made a proposal aimed at resolving the protracted crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Zamfara State, Senator Kabiru Marafa, APC-Zamfara Central, has said.
Marafa disclosed this yesterday while speaking with State House correspondents after a private meeting with Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said the postponement of the 2019 presidential and National Assembly elections provided an opportunity to APC in Zamfara State to resolve the stalemate.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has insisted that the state APC will not field candidates in the 2019 elections, following unresolved issues arising from the party’s primaries in the state.
A Zamfara State High Court in Gusau and a Federal High Court in Abuja on January 25, gave conflicting judgments on the Zamfara State APC crisis.
While the state High Court upheld the primary election conducted by the state chapter of APC, the Federal High Court in Abuja barred the party from fielding candidates in Zamfara State in the upcoming general elections.
Marafa said he was in Presidential Villa on the invitation of the vice president.
“It has to do with the political impasse in the state; he called to see if we can work a way out of it.
“Our discussions were quite fruitful; it was an honest discussion; he is a good man and he gave out a proposal, which we are going to look at because I am not alone in the journey; I have followers and friends; we are going to look at it and I promised I will get back to him; today or tomorrow.
“The vice president is concerned that the problem still lingers up until this time and he promised to do the needful and we will tap from his years of experience and wisdom,” the lawmaker explained.
According to him, the postponement offered a window for discussion.
He said that if not because of the postponement, he would not have been in the Villa to discuss anything.
“It goes without saying that it is an advantage; if the election had actually taken place last Saturday, there will not be anything to discuss.
“So, I think it is an understatement to even to say it is an advantage to Zamfara State,” he said.
Marafa said the postponement had given Zamfara State APC five more days within which to work out something.
