They Are Not Yari’s Loyalists — Shinkafi Breaks Silence On Suspended Zamfara Lawmakers

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi, has clarified that the eight suspended members of the Zamfara State House of Assembly are not political loyalists of Senator Abdul’aziz Abubakar Yari.

Shinkafi explained that Yari and other APC stakeholders had made efforts to resolve the dispute between the lawmakers and the leadership of the state assembly but were unable to secure a peaceful settlement.

According to Bush Radio Academy, Shinkafi made the clarification in a press statement issued on Friday, noting that the attempts to broker peace failed after the assembly leadership declined to lift the legislators’ suspension and proceeded with criminal proceedings against them.

The affected lawmakers are Aliyu Ango Kagara, representing Talata Mafara South; Ibrahim Tukur Bakura, representing Bakura; Faruk Musa Dosara, representing Maradun I; Bashir Abubakar Masama, representing Bukkuyum North; Muktaru Nasiru Kaura, representing Kaura North; Nasiru Abdullahi, representing Maru North; Bashar Bello, representing Bungudu West; and Bashar Aliyu, representing Gummi I.

Shinkafi said the lawmakers were suspended on February 26, 2024, over allegations including gross misconduct, conspiracy, mischief, contempt of the House and holding an unauthorised sitting in violation of the assembly’s standing orders.

He stated that the disagreement had continued despite attempts to resolve it politically, leaving the affected legislators without their salaries, allowances and other official entitlements.

According to Shinkafi, the prolonged withholding of their remuneration created serious financial difficulties for the lawmakers. He alleged that Yari subsequently offered them financial assistance and helped settle outstanding bank loans they had been unable to repay.

“I passionately appealed to the House leadership and Governor Dauda Lawal for a political solution and payment of their salaries and entitlements, but the House leadership remains adamant on their suspension,” he said.

Shinkafi disclosed that the suspended legislators had petitioned the House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions, seeking its intervention in the matter. They reportedly want the committee to persuade the Zamfara State House of Assembly and the state government to reinstate them and pay their accumulated entitlements.

He also argued that the lawmakers’ political history contradicted suggestions that they constituted a group aligned with Yari. According to him, five of the eight legislators were elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the 2023 general election before later defecting to the APC.

Shinkafi’s statement sought to distinguish Yari’s reported intervention in the dispute from any claim that the suspended lawmakers were his political allies, while renewing calls for a resolution that would address their suspension and unpaid entitlements.