Former Zamfara Governor, Abdulaziz Yari, Dumps APC, Joins PDP – Official

Posted by African Examiner Latest Headlines, News Across Nigeria, News From The State Monday, April 18th, 2022

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – A former Governor of Zamfara state, Abdulaziz Yari, has joined the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) alongside some of his supporters from the state’s chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The Chairman of the PDP in Zamfara State, Bala Mande, made this known to journalists in Gusau, the state capital, on Sunday afternoon.

Mr Mande said the former governor would be joined by other APC bigwigs, including Kabiru Marafa, a former senator.

He said the party met with representatives from Mr Yari’s faction of the APC and an agreement was reached.

“We met with our members today,” Mr Mande, who was a former military governor said. “And I informed them that the immediate former governor of the state,

Abdulaziz Yari and all his supporters as well other party chieftain have agreed to decamp to the PDP. “As I speak with you now, the deal has been sealed because they’ve agreed to join us and we’ve agreed to welcome them so that we can continue the process of salvaging the state. Their decision to join PDP has no doubt motivated us and it will improve our chances of winning the election in 2023,” Mr Mande said.

Messrs Yari and Marafa have remained opposed to incumbent Governor Bello Matawalle who got to power on the platform of the PDP but later defected to the APC.

His ascension was itself through a Supreme Court verdict that declared that the APC in the state didn’t conduct a proper primary elections following disagreement between Mr Yari and a faction led by Mr Marafa.

In 2021, Mr Matawalle decamped to the APC, a development that unsettled Mr Yari and his supporters.

His deputy, Mahdi Ali, the House of Representatives member representing Talata Mafara/Anka, Kabir Yahaya; and some other top officials of his administration, however, remained in the PDP.

The deputy governor, Mr Ali, was eventually impeached earlier this year.

Mr Yari has been protesting the dissolution of the executive council of the APC by former caretaker chairman of the party, Mai Mala Buni. He then set up a parallel faction of the party in the state.

Mr Marafa’s faction also conducted a parallel congress but the national body of the APC recognised the executives produced by Mr Matawalle’s faction.

Mr Yari contested for the position of the APC national chairman in the recently concluded convention of the party. He later stepped down after former Governor Abdullahi Adamu was chosen as the consensus candidate for the position.

He could not be reached Sunday afternoon to comment for this story. His known telephone number failed to connect the several times it was called.