APC Cannot Have a Governor: Marafa Drops Bombshell, Reveals Why He Is Against Matawalle’s Defection
- If things are not handled properly, the APC in Zamfara may be heading for another major crisis that may rock its foundation
- A chieftain of the party, Senator Marafa has spoken against the defection of Governor Matawalle and his being named the APC leader in the state
- According to Marafa, the Supreme Court judgement in 2019 made it clear that APC cannot have a governor and lawmakers
- As far as the senator is concerned, the defection of Matawaale and other lawmakers from the PDP to the APC is a violation of this judgement
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Zamfara state - A crisis is brewing in the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Zamfara state following the defection of Governor Bello Matawalle from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the party.
A leader of the party in the state, Senator Kabir Marafa believes that the defection violates the judgement of the Supreme Court, which declared that the APC had no candidate in the 2019 governorship election in the northern state.
Source: Facebook
In an interview with ARISE News, Marafa who was a member of the eighth Senate warned that a major crisis may overwhelm the party if strong reservations expressed by its members over the defection are not properly managed.
Explaining his grievance against Matawalle's defection, the senator said:
“The judgment made by the Supreme Court said APC ought not to have participated in the 2019 election. What that means is that there was no APC at all. Now, I’m asking this question and I want every Nigerian to tell me: Can a man that is non-existent give birth to children? No, he can’t.
“As far as the law is concerned, there was no APC in the 2019 ballot paper, so APC cannot have a governor, APC cannot have senators, APC cannot have members of House of Representatives and APC cannot have members of the state’s house of assembly, according to that Supreme Court judgment."
According to him, anybody claiming he is the governor of APC, between 2019 and 2023 without any justifiable reason is only making a jest of the judicial system, This Day reports.
Matawalle should not be the APC leader
Marafa is strongly in opposition to Matawalle being the leader of the party in the northern state.
He is criticised the chairman of the caretaker committee of the APC, Mai Mala Buni, who declared the Zamfara governor as the leader of the party.
The senator added that the chairman has no power under the constitution to make such pronouncements.
He stated:
“Leave us where we are. You don’t have to rub it on us. Doing so will just ignite series of problems that might spell doom to APC. We don’t want it to happen, so, what people are saying is APC be fair, be just.”
Matawalle's defection and rejection
After weeks of speculation, the APC on Tuesday, June 29, took Matawalle into its fold and named him the new leader in the state while handing over the party’s flag to him.
This did not go down well with a former governor of the state, Abdulaziz Yari, and Senator Marafa.
Yari, who was the party’s leader in the state before Matawalle’s defection, said nobody had the power to dissolve executives of a party.
Marafa, on his part, said Buni's declaration was as good as deception, insisting that they would not accept it.
Source: Legit.ng
