"Protesters against Oshiomhole in Zamfara were hired" – Governor

A senator, Kabiru Marafa (APC, Zamfara) has condemned Thursday’s protest in Gusau, the Zamfara State capital, calling for the sack of the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole.

According to Daily Trust Newspaper, the local government APC chairmen and hundreds of loyalists of the party in all 14 local government areas of the state, on Thursday staged a protest, demanding the sack of Mr Oshiomhole.

The demonstration, which took off from NNPC depot through the Sokoto road and then ended at the state secretariat of the party, had some commissioners, women groups and other top party executive members.

The party members who were carrying placards with many anti-Oshiomhole inscriptions said the protest was to register their anger “over the way the national chairman of the party handled its affairs.”

However, in a statement issued in Abuja, Mr Marafa faulted the demonstration. He said the protesters were mobilised by the state governor, Abdulaziz Yari, following his inability to bend rules to impose candidates who are his cronies, on the party.

Mr Marafa, a governorship aspirant of the APC in Zamfara, described Mr Oshiomhole as a law abiding leader. He said Mr Yari should be the one to be sacked.

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

Making reference to the beginning of the party crisis in the state, 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 it leadership should be commended for respecting the law, a foundation upon which APC was built.

“When the committee of the National Working Committee came to conduct the primary in Zamfara, violence, 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.

He further said the millions of Naira spent by the governor 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.

The senator said he believes majority of APC members in Zamfara are behind Mr Oshiomhole and the leadership of the party.

At the time of this report, the APC spokesperson, Lanre Issa-Onilu, failed to comment as he did not respond to calls and text messages sent to him.

Earlier, the lawmaker declared his support for INEC’s decision on APC.

INEC declared the APC ineligible to field candidates for all elective positions in Zamfara State in the 2019 general elections.

This is because the party failed to meet the October 7 deadline for conducting primaries to elect candidates for the elections.

APC dares INEC, vows to submit candidates for Zamfara election

Mr Marafa had in June, declared his intention to vie for the governorship slot.

He said he joined the race due to “numerous calls from members of the party in the 14 local government areas of the state.”

The lawmaker had pledged to fight corruption, injustice and provide the much needed leadership to stimulate the growth and development of the state. He also pledged to provide security as well as look at the state’s legal system to make it conform to the true teachings of Islam for the benefit of all.

Overtime, Mr Mafara has been the state governor’s political foe, though both men are members of Nigeria’s ruling party, APC.

The state has been ruptured by violence in recent months with armed bandits killing scores of people and destroying several houses and the lawmaker has continuously blamed the state governor, Mr Yari, for the high rate of insecurity and poverty in the state.