Zamfara APC Settles Rift As Ex-Gov Yari Emerges New Leader
Putting behind them over two years of bitter intra-party squabbles, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Zamfara State has picked former Governor Abdul’Azeez Yari as its new leader following reconciliation by factions of the party.
The contending groups, at the weekend, decided to settle their differences that saw them losing all electoral offices in 2019 and form a formidable force ahead of future elections in the North West state.
A chieftain of the party, Dr Mikailu Barau, announced the cease-fire in an 11-point resolution at the end of a meeting on Sunday in Kaduna, with supporters of both camps, led by former Governor Abdul-azeez Yari and Senator Kabiru Marafa, in attendance.
Barau said part of the meeting outcome was the nomination of Yari as the Party’s new leader in Zamfara state.
Rising from an earlier meeting on Saturday, both camps agreed with the leadership and initiative of Governor Maimala Buni-led APC National Care Taker Committee to resolve the distressing crisis in the state.
According to the communique; “The supporters of Marafa and Yari unanimously endorsed the reconciliation move and welcomed the development for repositioning the party, so that it would occupy its rightful leadership place in Zamfara state.
“Discussion points were divided into two – those that are for public audience which comprises all the propositions in the present submission and; and confidential issues discussed in a closed-door session between the two leaders.
“The interim leadership of APC in Zamfara state from the faction of Yari was accepted in good spirit with high expectations for fair deal through the inclusion of Sen. Marafa’s supporters at all levels,” Barau said.
He said by this statement, all parallel party structures under Senator Marafa are considered dissolved and “Hon. Abdul’Azeez Yari is hereby recognised as the leader of the party in the spirit of reconciliation, unity and progress of Zamfara as a state and APC as a party.”
The party chieftain also said all court cases initiated by the Marafa-led faction in respect of party leadership would be withdrawn for the reconciliation to thrive.
“Notwithstanding the dissolution of parallel party structures, the two factions shall be maintained for six month with alignments evolving naturally until one party is achieved.
“After this, a review meeting will be convened to evaluate the progress made. “For the sake of clarity, Marafa faction comprises interests from the erstwhile Wakkala, Abu Magaji and Dan Ali groups,” Barau stated.
He said there would be an arbitration committee with representatives from each faction that would monitor the implementation of agreed terms of reference. The party chieftain advised the leadership of the two factions to caution their members, especially the social media team, against unguarded utterances that could affect the process of reconciliation.
“Distinguished members should be enlightened in form of training to facilitate the reconciliation of the two groups”, adding; “Persistent violation of the agreement and inability to respect the terms by either faction amounts to automatic dissolution of the overall agreement and gives the aggrieved party the automatic right to go its way.”
He said the terms spelt out in the resolution and those to be discussed in a closed-door meeting would be communicated to the leadership of APC at national level accordingly.
To facilitate the peace process and adherence to the resolutions reached at the meeting, both sides also agreed on a 13-member committee to address all outstanding issues and monitor events in the next six months.
The APC, had following the court ruling, lost all elected offices during the 2019 poll to the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Zamfara State due to irreconcilable differences among party chieftains. – With NAN reports
