Marafa blames Governor for violence

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Senator Kabiru Marafa has thrown his weight behind the decision of the gubernatorial primary election committee which upheld the cancellation of the Zamfara state governorship primary.

In a statement, Marafa who is also a governorship aspirant, blamed Governor Abdulaziz Yari for the violence that erupted in some parts of the state during the exercise.

He said the call for the continuation of the poll despite the violence “orchestrated by Governor Yari and his co- travellers was the height of insensitivity, lawlessness, stupidity and wickedness.”

"Yari set the state on fire just to perfect his plot to upturn the people's will and impose on them stooges with the sole aim of continuing with his misrule through proxies after May 29, 2019," he said.

Marafa maintained that the primary election was postponed thrice and that after an exhaustive meeting with all security agencies, nine gubernatorial aspirants, INEC and the Committee sent from Abuja on Tuesday, it was unanimously agreed that the election should hold yesterday, Wednesday.

He said shortly after the distribution of election materials, the aspirant agents raised alarm that the available ballot papers were not up to 10 percent of the registered party members in their wards.

Marafa added that the development forced the committee chairman to summon an emergency meeting in the office of the commissioner of Police to address the issue.

"In attendance at the meeting was all the aspirants and heads of all security agencies in the state.

“The chairman called the National chairman of APC Chief Adams Oshiomhole who spoke individually with all the aspirants, in the end all the aspirants agreed that the ballot papers should be set aside and direct method of people queuing behind the candidate of their choice be adopted. The National chairman thereafter gave approval that the system be employed.”

Marafa said the election went on peacefully in many wards but violence erupted in major towns where “desperate government officials organized thugs to attack party members especially women.”

He said the development forced the chairman of the election committee to quickly cancel the election to halt the crisis.

"It is pertinent to mention here that governor’s candidate lost in all the wards where elections held. I was leading in all the wards.

"Hours after the cancellation desperate Governor Yari went on air to announce that election will continue today (Thursday) without even condoling and sympathizing with the families of the deceased and the injured persons," he said

He urged all his supporters and the entire people of the state to remain calm, and abide by the decision of the national committee and await further announcement on the matter.