A former Zamfara senator, Kabiru Marafa, has faulted the claim by the Governor Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker and Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) that it has resolved the crisis in the Zamfara State chapter of the party.
Mr Marafa said the committee lied and has not done anything to resolve the crisis.
The committee had at the end of its meeting on Tuesday said it had substantially reconciled the various factions in some of its state chapters.
This was in a statement by the APC National Publicity Secretary, Yekini Nabena.
It named some of the states where disagreements had been resolved and warring factions reconciled as Bauchi, Bayelsa, Cross River, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Zamfara, Ondo, and Oyo. The committee also appealed to aggrieved members of the party to halt all litigations in courts in the spirit of true reconciliation.
However, in another statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES, Mr Marafa, a 2019 governorship aspirant, said nothing of that sort has been done in his state. He added that none of the leaders in the state has been contacted formally or informally by the committee.
The two factions of the party in Zamfara State are still operating from parallel secretariats in Gusau, the state capital and across the 14 local government areas of the state, he said. One faction is loyal to Mr Marafa while the other faction is loyal to ex-Zamfara governor, Abdulaziz Yari.
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Mr Marafa said, “this ungodly claim by the committee would only worsen the crisis of the party in the state.”
The ex-lawmaker who has been at loggerheads with some members of the party in the state as well as the former governor, Abdulaziz Yari, warned that the caretaker committee may destroy the party structure in the state.
“With this statement, the committee has deflated the trust and confidence reposed in it, by misleading the public with the claim that it has resolved the crises in the states mentioned. The committee has lost its integrity and its members should therefore resign or be sacked.
“This is nothing but a wicked lie. I pray that the committee is not on a mission to destroy the party completely.
“They have not done anything and have not contacted anybody; either by phone or letter, formally or informally. They are behaving as if Zamfara State does not exist and therefore doesn’t matter.”
He vowed that his camp will fight for its rights and the rights of the average Zamfara APC members.
The Zamfara chapter of the APC suffered many setbacks due to the recurring crisis, including a total loss in the 2019 general elections.
The Supreme Court in May 2019, ruled that the APC did not conduct valid primaries in the build up to the 2019 general elections in Zamfara and therefore nullified the victory of the party in all elections in the state.
Mr Marafa blamed the party’s misfortunes in the state on Mr Yari’s “characteristic illiteracy, stubbornness and abominable act of playing God.”
Source: allafrica.com
