Marafa: Matawalle’s Defection Violates 2019 S’Court Judgement

Senator Kabir Marafa, a leader of the governing All Progressives
Congress (APC) in Zamfara State has described the defection of
Governor Mohammed Bello Matawalle to the APC, from the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP), as a violation of the Supreme Court
judgment, which declared that the APC had no candidate in the 2019
governorship election in Zamfara State.

The lawmaker of the Eight Senate in an interview on ARISE News,
warned that if strong reservations expressed by the party members
over the defection were not managed properly, they might snowball
into a major crisis that would rock the very foundation of the
party.

Justifying his opposition to Matawalle’s defection, Marafa
stated: “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.”

Giving further clarifications on the Supreme Court judgment,
Marafa said, “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.

“So, any attempt by anybody to say he is the governor of APC,
between 2019 and 2023 without reason of death or resignation that
could have warranted issues of bye-election, cannot work. Doing so
is acting against the judgment of the Supreme Court. You are making
nonsense of our judicial system. These issues are going to come
up.”

In what appears to be a sign of cracks in the ranks of the APC
in Zamfara, Marafa distanced himself from the defection of the
state governor, saying “We have accepted our fate. We are the ones
that fought, we lost and we have accepted that in good fate. “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.”

He also stated why he believes Matawalle should not be the
leader of the APC in Zamfara State.

He insisted that the Chairman of the Caretaker Committee of the
APC, Mai Mala Buni, erred by announcing Matawalle as the leader of
the party in Zamfara State.

“APC should let the sleeping dog lie. Mai Mala Buni, Chairman of
its Caretaker Committee doesn’t have the power under the
constitution to make such pronouncements,” he said.

Senator Kabir Marafa, a leader of the governing All Progressives
Congress (APC) in Zamfara State has described the defection of
Governor Mohammed Bello Matawalle to the APC, from the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP), as a violation of the Supreme Court
judgment, which declared that the APC had no candidate in the 2019
governorship election in Zamfara State.

The lawmaker of the Eight Senate in an interview on ARISE News,
warned that if strong reservations expressed by the party members
over the defection were not managed properly, they might snowball
into a major crisis that would rock the very foundation of the
party.

Justifying his opposition to Matawalle’s defection, Marafa
stated: “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.”

Giving further clarifications on the Supreme Court judgment,
Marafa said, “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.

“So, any attempt by anybody to say he is the governor of APC,
between 2019 and 2023 without reason of death or resignation that
could have warranted issues of bye-election, cannot work. Doing so
is acting against the judgment of the Supreme Court. You are making
nonsense of our judicial system. These issues are going to come
up.”

In what appears to be a sign of cracks in the ranks of the APC
in Zamfara, Marafa distanced himself from the defection of the
state governor, saying “We have accepted our fate. We are the ones
that fought, we lost and we have accepted that in good fate. “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.”

He also stated why he believes Matawalle should not be the
leader of the APC in Zamfara State.

He insisted that the Chairman of the Caretaker Committee of the
APC, Mai Mala Buni, erred by announcing Matawalle as the leader of
the party in Zamfara State.

“APC should let the sleeping dog lie. Mai Mala Buni, Chairman of
its Caretaker Committee doesn’t have the power under the
constitution to make such pronouncements,” he said.