We won’t allow a repeat of 2019 scenario in Zamfara — Yerima

A former governor of Zamfara State and presidential aspirant on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Sani Yerima, has said the political actors in the state would come together and avoid a repeat of the 2019 scenario.

The Supreme Court had annulled the votes of APC in the 2019 elections in Zamfara State on the grounds that the party was not eligible to field candidates because of its inability to conduct proper primaries.

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In an interview with newsmen at the weekend in Abuja, Yerima said there was no crisis in the state chapter of the APC over Governor Bello Matawalle’s defection to the party.

He said though a former governor of the state, Abdulaziz Yari and Senator Kabiru Marafa were not in support of the governor being leader of the party in the state, “they will come soon.”

He said, “the APC Constitution is very clear, the president is leader of APC in Nigeria and every governor is the leader of APC in his state. So there is no crisis as far as that one is concerned.

“The crisis that happened in 2019 election will not happen again because at that time there was no proper primary election and that was the crisis we found ourselves in.”

Yerima explained that he was in the race for 2023 presidency because he is qualified to run based on the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, adding that he would only shelve his ambition if the party finally zoned the ticket to the South.

Meanwhile, the APC has constituted a three-member committee to run the affairs of the party in the state.

Members of the committee are Senator Hassan Mohammed Gusau (Chairman), Muntari Ahmed Anka (Deputy Chairman) and Professor Abdullahi Shinkafi (Secretary).