A group, the 10th Assembly Mandate (10 AMG) working for former Zamfara State governor, Senator-elect Abdulaziz Yari to emerge as the next president of the senate has mocked embattled former Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio for running around shopping for frivolous endorsement from political spent-forces, saying that a reported endorsement by a former Zamfara governor, Sani Ahmed Yerima is empty, hollow and valueless.
The group in a statement released in Abuja by its convener, Engineer Rabui Rafindadi said that it received the news of the purported endorsement by the former governor with utter contempt, ridicule and derision and wondered where Senator Akpabio found and exhumed the former ‘Sharia’ governor from political museum meant for political mummies and artefacts.
Engineer Rafindadi disclosed that Akpabio went to exhume Sani Yerima in order to attempt breaking the ranks of the political class in Zamfara State where, according to him, Senator Abdulaziz Yari has since become the unrivalled political leader on account of his courage, ability and capacity to offer charismatic leadership in the All Progressives Congress (APC) since he emerged as governor of the state.
The group accused Akpabio of sleight of hand as well as playing to the gallery by employing divide and rule to seek Sani Yerima’s endorsement whereas the former governor and senator who represented Zamfara West had since become a political spent-force in the political dynamics of the state. He advised Akpabio to do the needful by dropping his aspiration for the position of the senate president to the North West on account of the fact that it produced over 2-7 million votes as the highest number of votes to actualize the victory of the Tinubu/Shettima presidential ticket at the election on February 25, 2023.
‘’As former US President Barack Obama once said, elections have consequences. In our various messages recently, we have maintained that politics is about investment and conciliation. The North West zone has invested heavily in the Tinubu/Shettima presidential presidential project and therefore deserves a fair recognition. We went all out and gave our votes massively and walked our talk. We deserves the Senate Presidency and His Excellency, Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari (Garzon Gusau) is the man who the cap fits.
‘’Undoubtedly, the only way to say Thank You to the over 2.7million people in the North West who invested their trust and heart in the Tinubu/Shettima presidential project is to allow one of their sons to serve as the Senate president. And beyond political expediency, the North West has competent hands for the job. His Excellency, Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari (Garzon Gusau) is a bridge builder and the right man for the job’’, he said.
The group advised Akpabio that it is not too late to retrace his steps back out of the race and toe the line of equity, fairness and justice, arguing that the zoning plan announced by the National Working Committee (NWC) did not go down with the majority of party faithful who love the party and worked assiduously for its massive victory in the recent general elections.
The group further said that if Akpabio had sought advice before shopping for Sani Ahmed Yerima’s endorsement, he would have realized that his (Yerima’s) political career kissed the dust and had remained buried following the national and global outrage which his marriage, at 62, to the 13 year-old Egyptian girl/minor triggered. He spurned Nigeria’s Child Rights Act of 2003 which forbids marriage with anyone under 18. The widespread anger in the global community was further heightened by Yerima’s press interview where he justified his pedophile’s action.
‘’I do not work with such law that runs counter to y religion. For clarity, I do not have to obey the Child Rights Act so long as it contravenes my religious belief and I’m sick and tired of repeating myself all the time. I hope I can be left alone now’’, he said in 2010.
The group maintained that Akpabio’s desperation led him to seek obnoxious endorsements similar to the obnoxious zoning ticket offered to him by the ruling party.
‘’If he (Akpabio) had sought proper advice, he would not need to seek any endorsement from Zamfara State where Abdulaziz Yari is currently the undisputed leader loved by all. Be it knowm to him that Sani Yerima’s purported endorsement is as empty, worthless and valueness as the endorser. He has since lost political relevance’’, he said.
