By Peter Omopo
Former Zamfara Central Senator, Kabiru Marafa, has announced his resignation from the All Progressives Congress (APC), alongside his political structure, accusing President Bola Tinubu of neglecting Zamfara State despite the role he played in securing the state’s support during the 2023 presidential election.
Marafa, who coordinated the Tinubu/Shettima Campaign Organisation in Zamfara, said the decision followed what he described as “sustained injustice, mistrust, marginalisation, and deliberate neglect” of the state and its people.
In a communiqué issued on Friday after a two-day meeting of the Senator Kabiru Marafa Consultative Forum held in Kaduna, the group said their mass resignation was in protest against the treatment of Zamfara since Tinubu’s emergence as president. The statement was signed by Bashir Mafara, Mannir Tsafe and seven others.
“The entire structure with all its supporters hereby formally resigns from the APC in protest against the sustained injustice, mistrust, marginalisation, and deliberate neglect of Zamfara State and its people,” the communiqué read, adding that the group would announce its next political direction in due course.
Marafa, who represented Zamfara Central in the Senate from 2011 to 2019, was a key campaign strategist for Tinubu in the 2023 polls. At the time, he had assured the then-candidate not to bother visiting Zamfara, insisting the state was already secured for him. Tinubu eventually won Zamfara, defeating Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and Peter Obi of the Labour Party.
However, the forum alleged that Zamfara has since been sidelined in political appointments, noting that the state was only allocated a Minister of State position while Lagos, where Tinubu lost in 2023, received multiple substantive cabinet slots and federal postings.
The group also accused the president of failing to visit Zamfara or show solidarity with victims of banditry despite repeated attacks, contrasting his interventions in other states with less severe insecurity.
Citing data from media reports and civil society groups, the forum said Zamfara topped Nigeria’s list of kidnap cases in 2024, recording 1,203 abductions out of 4,722 nationwide, ahead of Kaduna’s 629. It added that in a single week, 25 villages across six local governments were attacked, leaving 145 abducted and 21 killed.
The group further alleged that during a recent House of Assembly bye-election in Kaura Namoda, heavy security deployment was used to secure victory for the APC, only for troops to be withdrawn immediately after, leading to renewed attacks.
It also criticised what it called widespread vote-buying in the poll, exploiting the poverty of residents already devastated by insecurity.
Marafa’s exit marks a major setback for the APC in Zamfara, where the party relied heavily on his influence in 2023. The former lawmaker has not yet declared his next political move but hinted it would be guided by the “collective interest of the people of Zamfara State.”
