APC: God knows there was no primary election in Zamfara, Marafa insists

Following the decision of the Court of Appeal to set aside the judgement of the Zamfara State High Court which allowed the All Progressive Congress (APC) to field candidates in the 2019 election, the Senator representing Zamfara Central, Kabiru Marafa, has insisted that God knows that the state chapter of the party did not have primaries before the election in the state.

Marafa who along with others, dragged the matter to the Appeal Court, told State House correspondents in Abuja at the weekend that he is sure the truth will prevail in the end in respect of the case which is poised to be determined at the Supreme Court.

The Appeal Court had, on March 25, nullified the primary election conducted by the APC faction loyal to Governor Abdulaziz Yari against the previous ruling by state high court.

Marafa said: “So, at the end of the whole of this thing, the 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.”

He commended the Appeal Court for doing an “excellent job” despite the initial apprehension of his group.

The lawmaker said: “You know, we were quite apprehensive from the beginning, fearing that we might not get justice. But they have done justice to that case and they have made judiciary proud and the people of Nigeria proud. If that has not been done, I was afraid where we were heading to.

“I read their judgement and I was really very proud of the way it was written. That is how judgements are written, not the way the Zamfara (State High Court) judgement was written.

“Unfortunately, he has put all of us, people from Zamfara to shame because people are mocking us, asking ‘is this the Sharia you people are professing?’ And that is the most unfortunate thing. We claim to be ahead, and you know if you are ahead, you must ensure responsibility and leadership.”

ALSO READ: FG may arraign Jones Abiri over treason tomorrow

Marafa rejected the insinuation that he is playing the spoiler role for Zamfara APC, saying that the court action is for the benefit of the people of the state.

He affirmed that the national leadership of the APC has no right to commit illegality and approach the courts to legalise it.

He stated: “Is the national leadership of the APC equal to Nigeria? The answer is ‘no’. We are talking about the laws of Nigeria and not talking 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 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 the party and now say that ‘because the party is going to lose’. Who is the party?

“The people have 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.

“Afterall, I came to this Senate as an ANPP member, today I’m APC. Most of the people you see today talking as APC, they were something else before. So, it’s not about APC for God sake.

“The National Chairman of this party was seen condemning and saying that primaries are not supposed to be conducted by state governors, or by state party chairmen. You can’t just change overnight. I am trying to speak the truth, even against myself. And that is exactly what I did when it happened.”

Senator Marafa said the Yari faction of the APC has not approached his group since the Court of Appeal ruling, saying that if they want to go to the Supreme Court, they are free to do so.

He added: “Well, there is still one last option left. It depends on what our opponents feel. There is the Supreme Court option. If they are desirous of exploiting that, they are constitutionally, 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.’”