Marafa knocks Yari over ‘Oshiomhole must go’ protest in Zamfara

Kabir Marafa, senator representing Zamfara central, has criticised a protest calling for the resignation of Adams Oshiomhole as national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The protesters took to the streets of Gusau, capital of Zamfara, on Thursday.

Reacting in a statement, the senator accused Abdul’aziz Yari, Zamfara governor, of sponsoring the protest.

The lawmaker reiterated that there were no APC primary elections in the state and that the parties did not agree to a consensus candidate.

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

“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 its leadership should be commended for respecting the law, a foundation upon which APC was built. Two, when the committee of the NWC came to conduct the primary in Zamfara, violent 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.”

The senator said the money 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 money spent on the protest should have been used to assist the security agencies in the state to rescue the abducted persons,” he said.

“The governor has stopped assisting security agencies with fund in the state in the last five months.”