The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Sen Kabiru Garba Marafa (APC, Zamfara) has said that his legal battle on the Zamfara All Progressives Congress (APC) primaries was beyond him.
Sequel to a suit by Marafa, the Court of Appeal on Monday set aside the judgement of the Zamfara state High Court, upon which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) recognised the candidates of the APC for governorship, national and state assembly elections.
Marafa, who was at the Presidential Villa, Abuja at the weekend, told State House correspondents, that the case was not all about him.
“Is politics all about personal benefits? Is it about me? The answer is no. Is it about Yari? The answer is no. It is about the people of Zamfara state. If Zamfara people stands to benefit from that ruling, glory be to God. If Zamfara people are going to lose from that ruling, may God reverse it,” he said.
Asked what is the way forward, as the litigation threatens the chances of the APC, Marafa said there’s one last option.
“It depends on what our opponents (Yari’s camp) feels. There is the Supreme Court option. If they are desirous of exploiting that, they are constitutionally and legally allowed to do so. If they are not, so be it.
“Before, they were dragging us, but we are now dragging them. We are not pleading with them not to go to the Supreme Court. The most important thing that Nigerians need to know is that we are not the aggressors as far as these problems are concerned. We are defending ourselves, defending the people of Zamfara state.
“So, if there was never a day the aggressors called us for a meeting or anything that we said ‘no’. So, the issue like I said, is not about Marafa. If it is about Marafa, maybe I would have been a senator-elect by now. The issue is about Zamfara state, it is about the lives and properties being lost day in, day out.
“The issue is about the comfort of the ordinary man, who doesn’t depend on the government for anything. All he needs is for him to sleep well, go to farm in the morning and come back home to meet his family,” he noted.
Marafa, while responding to the allegation that he’s playing the role of a spoiler, said the issue was about the laws of Nigeria and not about personalities.
“No matter how big you are, you cannot circumvent the law. You cannot break the law by your right hand and then use your left hand to say you want to amend it.
“You cannot commit a criminality then you will approach the court and say ‘court legalise it for me’. You cannot commit criminality and then hide under the umbrella of party and now say that ‘because the party is going to lose’. Who is party? The people has the party.
“It is not the Prince in Zamfara, it is not the stones, it is not the land, it is not the roads, it is not the wells or anything in Zamfara state; it is the people of Zamfara state that have the party. So, if the people are disenfranchised, if the people are cheated, we all have a duty to rise up above party lines.
“I’m trying to speak the truth, even against myself. And that is exactly what I did when it happened. Well, there is this thing I always say, some people who didn’t understand faulted me.
“I’m a Muslim and in my Quran, Allah said Himself that He forbids injustice to Himself. Then, He said He forbids injustice amongst us, His creations.
“So, it is a promise that God will never help injustice against justice. So, I have always believe that this God we serve will definitely ensure justice at the end of the day, because God’s peace is at the end not the beginning. I’m sure most of you here are being paid at the end of the month, not at the beginning of the month.
“So, at the end of the whole of this thing, truth will prevail, undoubtedly. No fear about that. The truth is there was no primaries in Zamfara, the world knows, Allah knows, the angel knows, everybody knows.
“So, even if somebody tries to paint it somehow, somebody will come, a good man will come and restore back the original paint. And the original paint is white. The white is the truth, the truth is that there was no primaries and the Court of Appeal has just done justice to that. And I want to use this opportunity to thank the President of the Court of Appeal for an excellent job she did,” he said.
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