Infighting continues within Zamfara State chapter of APC as national mediation fails to bring peace

BITTER infighting among the members of the Zamfara State chapter of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) intensified over the weekend when a faction of the party described the national executive committee mediating in the crisis as illegal.

During the last elections in 2019, the APC did not field candidates in Zamfara State as a result of infighting within the party. Split into two bitter factions that could not agree on who candidates were, the party did not hold primaries, so the Independent National Electoral Commission told the APC that it missed the submission of candidate deadline.

This infighting has continued with Senator Kabiru Marafa leading one faction and former governor Abdulaziz Yari said to be leading another. Earlier this year, the APC appointed Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State as its caretaker chairman with a mandate to resolve all such spats within the party.

Yesterday, however, Senator Marafa said that the Governor Buni-led Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) is an illegal contraption, unknown to law. Senator Marafa who represented Zamfara Central Senatorial District for eight years, said Governor Buni cannot operate as a governor and also superintend the party.

Senator Marafa said: “Mai Mala Buni’s CECPC is an illegal committee, it cannot conduct anything. Whatever it does is a nullity and it cannot stand in this country. We are going to challenge him on that in court and I don’t care what anyone will say.

"Buni looked for my trouble and I will give him 10 times of that. The constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is very clear that you cannot hold an executive position and hold party position at the same time and our APC constitution is also very clear in Article 2 which is the supremacy of the constitution.

“In S. 17(4), it says no officer of the party shall hold any executive position in government concurrently with the party position. He is an executive governor. He cannot be the chairman of APC and if he can, let the courts tell us."

He also declared last Saturday’s purported congress of the party in Zamfara State as an exercise in futility saying it was dead on arrival. According to Senator Marafa, the law requires the party to give a 21-day notice to the Inec for the conduct of such congresses, which was not done.