Senator Kabiru Marafa-led faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Zamfara State has called on party members and aspirants loyal to his camp to get set for direct primaries to conduct elections to produce National Assembly, governorship, and State House of Assembly candidates ahead of 2019 general elections.
Senator Marafa, who made the call in Abuja on Monday while speaking with journalists shortly after submitting his governorship Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms, urged them to ignore the faction loyal to Governor Abdulaziz Yari that had allegedly opted for consensus.
He said the action taken by the faction was not a surprise, stating that the group is populated by “law breakers”.
The lawmaker, who spoke on the current development over the ongoing case its faction had in court because of the outcome of the last congresses in Zamfara State, said the Governor’s camp had up till this Friday to explain the reason why the executive produced by his camp was not the authentic one.
He said his lawyer told him today that the court had granted all their prayers except the one asking them to stop parading themselves as authentic exco.
Marafa said, “I call on people in Zamfara to get prepared for direct primaries. The rule of law will prevail and the right thing will be done. Some fifth columnists even in this our headquarters will be chased out. Some are sitting in this secretariat doing anti-party activities. These are some of the things we are fighting.
“From my faction, I know myself. I came with more than 30 people contesting. We have an open door policy. We have told them from the beginning that it is a house of injustice. We are already talking. No son and daughter of Zamfara will say all is well. To be under that condition for another four years is not acceptable. Any governor that is afraid of direct primaries has no business to be a governor. Any politician that is afraid of direct primaries has no business to be in politics. They want to lock out every other person. I know what my people are going through. All Nigerians need to know why we are saying this. This is to take Zamfara State out of bondages.”
It was earlier reported that the party had resolved to use indirect primaries in selecting its candidates. But in a twist of events announced, Alhaji Muktar Idris, the state Commissioner of Finance was later chosen as governorship consensus candidate.
Speaking earlier at separate media briefing, the deputy governor of Zamfara State, Malam Ibrahim Wakkala Liman, who said there was nothing like godfatherism in his State, added that the support of the people was more important.
Another governorship aspirant from the State, Dauda Lawal, also said that he joined the race to address the challenges facing the state.
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