Opposition parties in Zamfara state were thrown into wild jubilation as the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, yesterday disqualified all the candidates of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the state from contesting the 2019 general elections in the state.
Daily post report quoted the governorship candidate of the PDP in the state, Dr Bello Mohammed Matawalle describing the official release from the commission which excluded the state wing of APC from contesting the elections as “a very transparent development”.
According to him, INEC has sent a signal to Nigerians that the 2019 general elections would be free, fair, credible and acceptable.
According to him, INEC has obeyed the judiciary, noting that the Federal High court’s judgment supersedes a state High court, appealing to the commission to ensure that Justice prevails in the 2019 general elections.
In another reaction, the governorship candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, Alhaji Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi noted that he was waiting for APC in the state to flag off its campaign before going to the appeal court, noting that the INEC has done what was expected of the commission to do.
On his own part, Senator Garba Kabiru Marafa representing Zamfara central senatorial zone in the Senate pointed out that Governor Abdulaziz Yari wanted to prove to the world that he was the alpha and omega in the State.
The senator noted that Abdulaziz Yari came to the political limelight from nowhere through the political influence of senator Ahmad Sani Yarima.
Senator Marafa noted that even though he was not going to contest the governorship election, he was satisfied that Governor Abdulaziz Yari did not achieve his selfish interest after all.
Meanwhile, all the APC candidates and their supporters have remained silent, waiting for the Governor to enter the state Government House and make a public statement.
It could be recalled that the faction of the governor within the party had conducted the party primary elections in the state which the G8 group, the national headquarters of APC and INEC rejected.
The rejection of the primaries forced the camp of the governor to proceed to court against both the national headquarters of the party and INEC, praying the court to uphold the primaries.
However, the state court 3 sitting in Gusau, the state capital upheld the primaries while the Federal High Court Abuja declared the elections non-acceptable, thereby, upholding the decision of the INEC not to allow the APC candidates in the state to contest the general elections.
The next line of action by the APC remains unknown even though President Muhammadu Buhari is now set for his presidential campaign in the state.
