The Police Command in Zamfara has assured residents of the state that it would provide adequate security to lives and property throughout the ongoing political activities in the area.
According to a statement signed by the Command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Mohammed Shehu, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the command would ensure a serene environment before, during and after the All Progressives Congress (APC) primaries in the state.
NAN reports that the APC governorship primaries in the state had been shifted several times as the party was factionalised with seven aspirants including the incumbent Deputy Governor, Malam Ibrahim Wakkala, opposing Gov.Abdul’Aziz Yari’s decision to anoint the party’s flag bearer.
This, the aspirants said, was against popular decision and not in conformity with the party’s principles.
In its response to the crisis, the national headquarters of the party dissolved the party’s executives in the state and ordered the conduct of the primary election.
It said that the dissolved executive and the state governor must not have a hand in the exercise.
This decision was rejected by the governor who announced at a press briefing that he would not guarantee the safety of the national officials of the party headed by Dr Abubakar Fari, sent to conduct the primary election in the state.
The governor also directed his supporters to storm the state police command and peacefully protest against the decision of the party’s National Secretariat until the an agreement on an acceptable way to conduct the election was finalised and agreed upon.
The, police however, warned that anyone caught taking the law into his or her own hands would face the full wrath of the law.
Meanwhile, Wakkala has urged his supporters to remain calm and,saying that the primary election must hold as directed by the party’s National Headquarters.
In a statement signed by his Director-General of Media, Yusuf Idris, the deputy governor alleged that the crisis facing the party was the result of unfair treatment meted out to them by the governor.
“Once everyone is treated fairly, there will be no problem, anymore, because we have always been one big family,” he said. (NAN)
