News

APC Insists Matawalle is Party Leader, Relegates Yari, Marafa

Published

4 years ago

July 3, 2021

Eric

The All Progressives Congress on Friday reiterated its conferment of the leadership of the Zamfara State chapter of the party on Governor Bello Matawalle.

This is coming on the heels of the rejection of the governor’s leadership by former governor Abdelaziz Yari, and a party stalwart, Senator Kabiru Marafa.

The Chairman, Caretaker/Extraordinary National Convention Planning Committee of the party, Governor Mai Mala Buni, had while welcoming Matawalle into the party, dissolved the APC state executive committee and announced Matawalle as the new party leader.

However, Yari and Marafa had in separate interviews with the Hausa Service of the BBC, rejected Buni’s declaration, insisting that negotiations were still ongoing.

When contacted by Saturday PUNCH, via the telephone, on Friday, the National Secretary of the APC, Senator John Akpanudoedehe, said, “I align myself with our National Chairman, Governor Mai Mala Buni. He spoke the mind of the party; this is not a controversial issue.”

Also, a former governor of the state, Senator Ahmed Yerima, said as things stood today in Zamfara State, Matawalle was the leader of all members of the APC.

He said this in an interview with the Hausa Service of the BBC, monitored in Abuja on Friday.

Yerima said, “For every member of the APC in Zamfara now, whether he says it or not, the Constitution gives Bello Matawale the leadership of the APC.

“Because of that, all of us are under the leadership of the present governor of Zamfara State.

“In the constitution of the APC in Nigeria, the leader of the party in Nigeria today is President Muhammadu Buhari. In every state, the leader of the party is the governor of that state.

“That is why the National Caretaker Committee Chairman, when he went to Zamfara State, said from that day, the state executive of the party was dissolved and the leadership of the party had been bestowed on the Governor Bello Matawalle.

“Recall, even the former governor, Abdelaziz Yari, in one of the interviews he granted said if the party had the governor, the governor was the leader but since there was no governor at the time and he was the immediate past governor, he was the party leader.

“Since we now have a governor, what he told the BBC has come true. Even among family members, there are instances where there will be disagreements between an elder brother and I younger one. That’s how politics is. As the Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai said, this is not the end of the matter. There will still be discussions on how a new caretaker leadership will emerge because a permanent leadership will be decided after the national body comes out with the guidelines for elections. Whoever God gives will be elected. What will I do with the leadership of the APC in Zamfara? I’m like a father to all of them. When I was governor, both Yari and Matawale served under my government.”

Giving a historical background to the crisis in the state chapter of the party, Yerima traced it to Yari’s decision to hand-pick candidates for the party ahead of the 2019 elections.

He said, “The former governor picked candidates before the elections. President Muhammadu Buhari sent me to Yari to inform him that he wasn’t in support of his decision. I went to Yari to deliver Buhari’s message.

“In response, Yari said it was a matter between him and the former national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole. When the President visited the Zamfara Government House, he repeated the message he sent me to Yari and said he would not support any of the candidates.”

Yerima spoke against the backdrop of the rejection of Matawalle’s leadership by Yari and Marafa.

The duo had in an earlier interview with the BBC, said, “One thing we do not agree with is the pronouncement by Governor Buni (who said Matawalle is the leader of the APC in the state), because it was not part of discussions we had with six of our governors (prior to Matawalle joining the APC).

“What we agreed was that let us go and inaugurate Bello and return to negotiate. What we agreed was what we would give to the party and what we would take from the government.

“But when we went had there were disagreements; we discovered that some people claimed that the party leadership had been dissolved. There is no way that can happen because there is no one who has the authority to do so.”

It was gathered that supporters of Yari and Marafa are already spoiling for a fight as the party prepares to begin ward and state congresses.

The Punch

News

242 Passengers, Crew Feared Killed As Air India Enroute London Crashes

Published

1 day ago

June 12, 2025

Eric

An Air India plane flying to London’s Gatwick Airport crashed in Ahmedabad in western India shortly after take-off on Thursday, the carrier said on Thursday.

A total of 242 passengers were on board the flight, Reuters has reported. All flights out of Ahmedabad have been temporarily suspended, the news agency said.

Citing local police, the Financial Times said the plane crashed “within 10 minutes” of take-off from the airport in Ahmedabad.

Flight tracking website Flightradar24 said in a post on social media that it was following reports of a crash involving Air India flight AI171.

The plane was a Boeing (NYSE:BA) 787-8 Dreamliner, Flightradar24 noted, adding that the first flight of the aircraft was in December 2013 and it was delivered to Air India in January 2014. Shares in Boeing were down by more than 6% in pre-market U.S. trading.

“Initial ADS-B data from flight #AI171 shows that the aircraft reached a maximum barometric altitude of 625 feet (airport altitude is about 200 feet) and then it started to descend with an vertical speed of -475 feet per minute,” Flightradar24 said in a post on X.

The signal from the aircraft was lost at 10:08 local time, less than a minute after take-off, Flightradar24 said.

News

Tinubu’s Loyalist Who Turned Against Him, Jesutega Onokpasa Reported Dead

Published

3 days ago

June 10, 2025

Eric

A prominent member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and staunch supporter of President Bola Tinubu during the 2023 presidential election, Jesutega Onokpasa, has been confirmed dead.

According to TJ News Nigeria, the outspoken APC chieftain, who was also a lawyer and renowned political commentator, died just days after making headlines for vowing to mobilise against President Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.

The exact cause of Jesutega Onokpasa’s death has not been officially disclosed. Family members and party associates have yet to release an official statement regarding burial arrangements.

Multiple sources from social media have however confirmed the sad incident. The Boss has not independently confirmed the story.

News

Eight Staff of FMC Abuja to Face Probe over Negligence

Published

3 days ago

June 10, 2025

Eric

The Federal Medical Centre, Abuja, on Monday, said eight of its staff members, including four doctors, two nurses, and two attendants, are under investigation for alleged negligence at the hospital.

The hospital, which disclosed this at a press briefing, noted that any staff member found guilty of dereliction of duty would be held accountable.

The Head of Clinical Services at the hospital, Dr. Bioku Muftau, added that the accident victims allegedly abandoned by personnel in a trending video on social media have since been treated and discharged.

Our correspondent had on Sunday reported that the Federal Government launched an investigation into a viral video showing alleged neglect of accident victims at the Emergency Unit of the hospital.

The video, which circulated widely on social media, showed victims of a road accident reportedly left unattended by hospital staff after being brought in by a good Samaritan.

The good Samaritan, who recorded the footage, claimed he found the victims on the road and transported them to the hospital for urgent care.

He alleged that hospital staff refused to provide immediate assistance, with one citing a lack of gloves.

Muftau, however, said the patient with head injury in the video that attracted public outrage has been treated, stabilised, and discharged on the same day he was brought into the facility.

He said the findings of the investigation ordered by the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Iziaq Salako, would be made public upon conclusion.

“All the staff who are there on that particular day are going to be investigated. They are up to eight -Nurses, attendants, doctors, all of them will be investigated; for now, they are four doctors, two nurses, two health assistants,” he emphasised.

Muftau also denied reports that the hospital was overwhelmed by the number of patients at the time of the incident, asserting that the facility is adequately staffed to manage patient care

“In terms of being overwhelmed, this hospital is blessed with a lot of staff. As I speak with you, we have over 100 consultants in various specialities. In neurosurgery alone, the sole speciality of surgery, we have three,” he claimed.