Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Sen Kabiru Garba Marafa (APC, Zamfara), has said that his legal battle on the Zamfara All Progressives Congress (APC) primaries was beyond him.
Sequel to a suit by Marafa, the Court of Appeal on Monday set aside the judgement of the Zamfara State High Court, upon which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) recognised the candidates of the APC for governorship, national and state assembly elections.
Marafa, who was at the Presidential Villa, Abuja at the weekend, told State House correspondents that the case was not all about him.
“Is politics all about personal benefits? Is it about me? The answer is no. Is it about Yari? The answer is no. It is about the people of Zamfara State. If Zamfara people stand to benefit from that ruling, glory be to God. If Zamfara people are going to lose from that ruling, may God reverse it,” he said.
Asked what is the way forward, as the litigation threatens the chances of the APC, Marafa said there’s one last option.
“It depends on what our opponents (Yari’s camp) feel. There is the Supreme Court option. If they are desirous of exploiting that, they are constitutionally and legally allowed to do so. If they are not, so be it.
“Before, they were dragging us, but we are now dragging them. We are not pleading with them not to go to the Supreme Court. The most important thing that Nigerians need to know, is that we are not the aggressors as far as these problems are concerned. We are defending ourselves, defending the people of Zamfara State.
“There was never a day the aggressors called us for a meeting or anything that we said ‘no’. So, the issue like I said, is not about Marafa. If it is about Marafa, maybe I would have been a senator-elect by now. The issue is about Zamfara State, it is about the lives and properties being lost day in, day out.
“The issue is about the comfort of the ordinary man, who doesn’t depend on the government for anything. All he needs is for him to sleep well, go to farm in the morning and come back home to meet his family.”
Marafa, while responding to the allegation that he’s playing the role of a spoiler, said the issue was about the laws of Nigeria and not about personalities.
