Zamfara protest: Marafa slams Yari over Oshiomhole

An All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant in Zamfara State, Kabiru Garba Marafa, has slammed the state governor, Abdulaziz Yari over the protest against the party’s national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole.

Marafa, who is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum (downstream), said the anti-Oshiomhole protesters that stormed the streets of Gusau, the state capital, on Thursday were sponsored by the state government.

In a statement in Abuja, Marafa said the protesters were mobilised by Yari following his inability to bend rules to impose candidates who are his cronies on the party in the state.

The senator said Yari should be the one to be sacked and not Oshiomhole whom he described as a law-abiding leader.

“Yari and his co- travelers are wrong and Comrade Oshiomhole is right as far as the issues in the party are concerned,” he said.

Recalling the genesis of the party crisis in Zamfara, he insisted that primaries were not conducted in Zamfara state and that there was no consensus either.

“There was a court order that says all parties should not take any step that will render useless the litigation before it. The party under the able leadership of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole respected the order and said all parties in the crisis should hands off.  The party and its leadership should be commended for respecting the law, a foundation upon which APC was built.

“Two, when the committee of the NWC came to conduct the primary in Zamfara, violent orchestrated by Yari’s people erupted, the committee was forced to cancel the election. This is also a valid thing. The position taken by the Governor that primaries should be conducted by the executives in his camp was irresponsible, contemptuous and height of lawlessness.

“The crux of the matter is that there was no election and there was no consensus in Zamfara. So, we are commending Comrade Oshiomhole and INEC for respecting the court order” he said.

Marafa said the  millions of naira Yari spent to organise the protest should have been channelled towards securing the release of 17 persons including two young girls kidnapped in Dauran, Jangebe, Magami and other locations in the state.

Marafa assured that majority of APC family members in Zamfara are solidly behind Oshiomhole and the leadership of the party.