From Sidi Ibrahim Kaulahi, Gusau
A shocking news of the resignation of eight serving members of the State House of Assembly elected on the platforms of both APC and PDP in Zamfara State has been described as total embarrassment to the Director General Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar and Governor Dauda Lawal.
This is according to a political analysts in Zamfara State, Professor Abubakar Ahmad Abdullahi and made available to newsmen, saying, in separate letters by the defected lawmakers addressed to their respective ward chairmen, they announced their exit from the ruling party, the membership through which they once sustained strong opposition against Governor Lawal while the latter was in the PDP.
Prof. Ahmad said that the lawmakers’ resignation, and their imminent defection to the opposition, is not only a major embarrassment to the political leaders of the state, particularly the Director-General of the Tinubu/Shatima Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Yari, but a clear cut way indicating that all is not well in the APC in the state currently boasting of returning an overwhelming votes for President Tinubu and Governor Lawal whose departure from the PDP that brought him into power to the APC early this year, was seen by many critics as the Governor’s frantic effort to hold on to power and serve his second term in office.
According to him, to a large extent, the Governor should take the blame for most of the negative political issues taking place in the state in the sense that, he is the leader by virtue of the office he holds with full executive powers. Right from the time crisis broke in the state House of Assembly, the Governor needed to call for calm and understanding but instead, he fuelled it for his own benefit.
“The aggrieved members were completely ignored by the Governor who vehemently refused to agree for any form of resolution while the members were busy accusing the Governor of abuse of office and the legislature of constitutional rascality.
“It would have been expected that when the Governor defected from the PDP to the APC, the crises that characteristically existed in the Assembly would be addressed and resolved, but none of the leaders cared, instead, the affected members and their respective constituencies were thrown to the dogs despite the unshielded popularity they command among their people.
“Perhaps, the Governor who was assured by all those interested in the office including Matawalle under the APC in the 2027 elections had suspended their interests for the Governor to go unchallenged, he no longer bothers about anyone else’s matter including President Tinubu’s, so long as his own is guaranteed.
“If the camps that have been existing in favour of Yari on the one hand and in favour of Matawalle on the other is anything to go by, then the bigger picture is the trouble that lies ahead against Tinubu’s return in 2027.
“If care is not taken, I vividly foresee a Tinubu failing woefully in Zamfara State in the next election just because some few individuals refuse to do their part and responsibility to bring the needed results which they have always boasted of.
“There is an urgent need for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene by summoning the three political gladiators in the state — Matawalle, Yari and Governor Dauda Lawal to a roundtable on how to reorganize the Zamfara APC for victory. Failure to do so will definitely affect the President’s votes in the forthcoming elections”.
The blow according Professor Ahmad, is heaviest in Yari’s own Zamfara West Senatorial Zone, where five of the eight defectors come from, affecting five out of the six local government areas in the zone.
“Seen as most painful for him is the resignation of Hon. Aliyu Ango Kagara, the member representing Talata Mafara South Yari’s own local government and who has always been seen and addressed as Yari loyalists and who strong influence runs through all the other eight aggrieved members.
“This is a clear signal that the APC in Zamfara is facing its most difficult moment. If the Director-General of the PCC loses his constituency in the forthcoming 2027 elections, it would go down as one of the most disastrous outings in Nigeria’s political history.
“Similarly, the Minister of State for Defence, Dr. Bello Matawalle, was hit by the wave. Hon. Faruk Musa Dosara, representing Maradun I Matawalle’s constituency dumped the APC. This is a serious political humiliation for a man who is known as a staunch supporter of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“By extension, this political tsunami threatens the re-election bids of Senator Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara West), Hon. Sulaiman Abubakar Mahmud Gummi (Gummi/Bukkuyum Federal Constituency), Hon. Isah Mamman Anka (Anka/Talata Mafara), Hon. Abba Ahmad Sani (Bakura/Maradun), and the incumbent Governor Dauda Lawal himself”.
