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AN ANALYSIS OF THE FUTURE OF ZAMFARA APC AHEAD OF 2023 ELECTION

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Maru/Bungudu is one of the federal legislative constituencies in Zamfara which is going to be keenly contested under the platform of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC).

While some of the aspirants are joining the race on their own, others are hiding under the influence of their political godfathers to get the ticket at the level of the party primaries.

Though the Governor through the consensus arrangements has sacrificed the seat to the Yari faction of the APC which eventually it was handed down to Abdul-Malik Zubairu Zannan Bungudu, some other aspirants went either on the own to obtained the nomination forms at the party Secretariat in Abuja while others took the decision of obtaining the nomination forms through the influence of some other power brokers within the APC.

As at now, four aspirants are contesting the ticket of Maru/Bungudu at the level of party primaries which will be based on direct, indirect or consensus mode.

ABDULMALIK ZUBAIRU (ZANNAN BUNGUDU)

He served as the lawmaker representing the constituency between 2015-2019 and worn the seat for the second term during the 2019 election before the victory was aborted by the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

He is a strong loyalist of former Governor Abdulazeez Yari and has remained with him since the political coincidence of the 2019.

He initially he intended to defect to the PDP after Yari lost his bid to emerge as the National Chairman of the ruling APC but the recent reconciliation which favoured his political camp influenced his change of decision.

He is no doubt one of the strongest politicians in the Zamfara Central Senatorial zone, especially with his existing political structure, which he used in winning the 2015 and 2019 election under the same APC.

He now enjoys the good-will of his political master Abdulazeez Yari couple with the existing state structure led by Matawalle which are some of his baseline factors that may place him above other contenders in the primaries.

But there are those with the opinion that even without the support and good will of his political leader and support of the state structure of the party, he has the skills and political experience of manipulating his way to secure the ticket of the party going by the political precedence that characterized his emergence in 2015.

ABDULRAHAMAN TUMBIDO (KOGUNAN MARU)

Abdulrahaman Tumbido was formally a legislative aide to the former Senator Ahmad Sani Yarima and he has gathered his Political experience from Yariman Bakura school of thought.

Before they parted away in 2022, Kogunan Maru has been one of the political pillars of the Gamjin Gusau political structure.

He is believed to be enjoying the goodwill of the former civilian Governor Ahmad Sani Yariman Bakura whom many believed will use his political experience to manipulate the party ticket for him.

He has expressed interest to contest for the same legislative seat in 2019 but could not make it.

He said his number one areas of interest if he succeeded in securing the ticket and winning the legislative seat is to empower the youths, support the government to end insecurity and also create job opportunities through agriculture and small and medium enterprises.

SUFIYANU USMAN DAN-MAI SALLAH

Sufiyanu Usman Dan-Mai Sallah is a certified National Accountant with multiple years of experience as an accountant working with the Usman Danfodiyo University Sokoto and later Ahmad Bello University Zaria.

He has worked as an Accountant at Usman Danfodiyo University Sokoto for eight years and later moved to Ahmadu Bello University Zaria as Financial Officer at Center for Energy Research and Training up to 2021.

He is currently a Technical Assistant to the Executive Chairman, Zamfara State Board of Internal Revenue and also an active member of the All Progressive Congress.

His move to contest for the position of member, federal house of representative for Maru and Bungudu is borne out of the pressure from the youth (his main constituency) and other concern citizens.

As at now, he has no political godfather which is known to the public, and from the look of things, he is riding on the good-will of the people of his constituency especially to secure the ticket of his party.

Many believed his academic credentials and years of experience in public service as holder of HND in Accounting, BSc in Accounting and Master’s Degree in Accounting is good enough to define his deserving competency to serve as representative of the people.

He is also a member of professional bodies including (ANAN), Association of Chartered Taxation Institute (ACTI) and also a member Certified Financial Analysis.

DR. BASHIR MARU

Dr. Bashir Maru is currently a Special Adviser to Zamfara state Governor and also Executive Chairman Zamfara State Hospital Management Board (a man with double portfolios) as he is fondly called.

Before his recent appointment, he served as the Deputy Chief of Staff to Zamfara State Governor between 2020 up to the middle of 2021.

He is a known comrade with years of experience as Student Union Activist who rose through the ladder to become a factional NANS President.

He worked in the various youth committees that struggled in ensuring the election and re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari under the auspices of the All Progressive Congress.

He is a trained medical doctor with years of experience and also worked with many civil society organizations.

Furthermore, he succeeded in bringing a lot of reforms that led to the liberation of the youths in the Northern Nigeria especially in the areas of education and health.

As of now, Bashir Maru has no political godfather who is sponsoring his aspiration but like he used to say, he’s riding on the good-will of the people to get his party ticket and expressed optimism that he will get the ticket through the party primaries.

THE UNRESOLVED CRISES AND PROJECTED OF POSSIBILITIES

The main concern regarding the APC candidature for Maru/Bungudu Federal constituency is how to get the conflict of interest among the contenders resolved.

As at now, nobody is certain of what may likely happen because the four contenders are showing no readiness to step down their interest.

The anointed candidate of the Governor who emerged through the consensus process Zannan Bungudu for instance is not too sure as to either if he can rely solidly on the good-will of the Governor and indeed the party (APC) to get the ticket if at all he has to face the three other contenders at the primaries.

He may not be sure again if the Governor can get him the control of the party delegates if at all indirect mode of primaries is approved for Zamfara state. And where direct mode of party primaries is approved, there are too many questions that begs for answer as it relates to chances of Zannan Bungudu.

And what many people cannot understand for now is whether there is an ongoing reconciliation effort championed by the Governor to get the three other aspirants to step-down for Zannan Bungudu and if that is not enforce it means Zannan Bungudu need to wake up and work his ways before it is too late.

As for those who understand the political strategies of Sen. Yarima very well, they knew Tumnido candidature can be a big threat to all the aspirants unless if he has stepped down before the conduct of the party primaries.

As for Bashir Maru and Sufiyanu Usman Dan Mai Sallah if the direct mode of primaries is approved for Zamfara state anyone of them can take advantage of the citizen’s popularity to hit at the nail on the head

May Allah make the race beneficial to the people of the constituency.