A senator, Kabiru Marafa (APC, Zamfara State), has blamed his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the current crisis rocking it in Zamfara State.
Mr Marafa also said he does not give a damn if APC loses elections in Zamfara State.
He accused the party of controlling the actions of its members since the inception of the 8th Senate.
His statement comes few days after he hailed the judgment of a Federal High Court in Abuja which upheld the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC’s) rejection of Zamfara APC candidates.
THE ‘CRISIS’
INEC had last October said it would not allow the ruling APC to field candidates in Zamfara because the party failed to conduct primaries before the deadline stipulated.
This was because the party failed to meet the October 7 deadline for conducting primaries to elect candidates for the elections.
Some members of the APC in the state approached the court challenging the decision of INEC. They argued that the APC conducted primaries which produced current governor Abdulaziz Yari as a senatorial candidate and his commissioner of finance, Shehu Idris, as the governorship candidate, among others.
PREMIUM TIMES reported how two courts gave conflicting rulings on whether INEC can accept candidates presented by the APC for Zamfara elections.
A Federal High Court in Abuja ruled that the governing APC did not conduct primaries in the state and should not be allowed to present candidates for the electoral contest
It said INEC acted within its powers by refusing to accept the list of candidates from the Zamfara State chapter of the APC.
However, a High Court sitting in Gusau, Zamfara State, on Friday ruled that the governing APC actually conducted primaries in the state and should be allowed to present candidates for the electoral contest.
The Zamfara court specifically directed the electoral commission to accept candidates from the party for Zamfara State in the forthcoming elections.
CRISIS STARTED WITH APC – MARAFA
Addressing journalists at the National Assembly on Tuesday, the lawmaker explained that the APC, from beginning, had told them who to vote for.
“There’s a limit of my loyalty to the Senate can go. My loyalty first and foremost is to my God then to my people. APC is not a religion. So if APC decides the worst candidate is best than other candidate from anywhere, I will respect them and expect them to do that because they’re in politics to field the candidates and win elections. But that cannot be true to me.
“Even if APC lose in Zamfara state, I don’t give a damn. The crisis that we are in today started with the APC itself. When we assumed the 8th Senate, APC said these are the people we want you to vote as your leader. Some of us felt that this is the property of APC.
“The same people we are fighting today reneged, said they won’t do it and that was the beginning of this crisis. APC asked us to vote Ahmad Lawan as President of the Senate and we stood hell bent that APC must have its way and this people said no. They acted in disobedience.
“Some of us are closer to Saraki than many of them but we obeyed the party and today the people that made us to take that line of action are silent. Nobody cares about us. Nobody is talking. Some of them gang up. There is a massive gang up to all of us today,” he said.
The lawmaker went ahead to mention members of the party who, he alleged, attempted to sabotage President Muhammadu Buhari and other leaders of the party.
